Largest public pension fund earns dismal 1%

170 homes under threat from Placer blaze

FORESTHILL (AP) - Firefighters are struggling to contain a blaze that has consumed one home and forced evacuations from dozens of others in Placer County. State fire officials on Monday said the Robbers Fire was growing on its northern and eastern edges. It was 30 percent contained. Residents have been evacuated to a Red Cross shelter in Foresthill, ...

Death penalty tossed in killing of rocker's mom due to prospective juror’s dismissal over views

Bay Area briefs

PLEAS DELAYED FOR COUPLE IN DRUG PLANT ARREST: SANTA ANA (AP) - A husband and wife accused of planting drugs in the car of a school aide they believed mistreated their son have appeared in court.

State treasurer seeks divorce amid public troubles with wife’s substance abuse

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has filed for divorce from his wife, who resigned her seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors earlier this year after her problems with substance abuse and marital troubles played out publicly. The 71-year-old treasurer filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences with Nadia Lockyer, his spokesman, Tom Dresslar, said Monday. ...

Imperial County's kids with asthma more likely to visit ER

CALEXICO (AP) - Children with asthma in the dusty and impoverished Imperial County are far more likely to visit the emergency room, costing taxpayers for care often covered by state and federal health care programs. One in five children ages 5 to 17 in the county has been diagnosed with asthma, which can be managed with medication. The rate of youngsters visiting ...

Boxing club coach arrested in child sex probe

SANTA ANA (AP) - The coach of a prominent Southern California youth boxing club was arrested on suspicion of molesting one of his teenage athletes, police said Monday. Anthony Serrano, 45, was arrested Sunday after the 15-year-old boy's mother contacted police, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told The Orange County Register. Serrano is head coach at the ...

CSU must choose tuition hike or enrollment cut

Catalina Island fighting proposed water rate hike

AVALON (AP) - Residents and business owners of Santa Catalina Island have formed a coalition to fight against a proposal to dramatically raise their water rates.

Cities eye plan to seize mortgages

FONTANA (AP) - In the foreclosure-battered inland stretches of California, local government officials desperate for change are weighing a controversial but inventive way to fix troubled mortgages: Condemn them.

Man recovers car 42 years after theft

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Texas man whose prized sports car was stolen 42 years ago recovered the vehicle in California after spotting it on eBay, authorities said Sunday.

State news briefs

PLACER COUNTY FIRE DESTROYS HOME, 3 OUTBUILDINGS: FORESTHILL (AP) - Firefighters are bracing for an another day of high temperatures and strong afternoon winds as they battle a wildfire burning in a rugged area of thick woods near the Placer County community of Colfax.

Aging anti-war sculpture debate

SANTA MONICA . (AP) - For decades the big, black mass of chain link that's piled up outside the Civic Center has alternately awed and inspired, annoyed and confounded, and, perhaps most often, simply divided residents of this otherwise famously tolerant beach town.

Secret buyouts at state parks HQ

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A high-ranking official at the California Department of Parks and Recreation carried out a secret vacation buyout program last year for himself and other employees at the department's headquarters, just as the agency was planning to close 70 state parks due to budget cuts.

State news briefs

CALIFORNIA TOBACCO TAX SUPPORTERS CALL FOR RECOUNT: SACRAMENTO (AP) - Tobacco tax supporters want a recount of ballots in parts of Los Angeles County to see if California's barely-defeated Proposition 29 might swing the other way.

3 found dead in burning stolen car near Paradise

PARADISE . (AP) - Authorities in rural Northern California have found a burning stolen car with three people dead inside. Butte County sheriff's Sgt. Jason Hail says deputies and firefighters responded to reports of a vehicle fire on a road in Magalia 10 miles northeast of Chico early Thursday. They arrived to find a green Acura sedan engulfed in flames when it was out found three bodies. Undersheriff Kory Honea tells the Chico Enterprise-Record that ...

San Francisco parking spot sells for $82,000

San Francisco parking spot sells for $82,000

Bay Area briefs

SF DEVELOPER LOOKS TO MAKE MORTUARY INTO MINI-GOLF: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Developers in San Francisco want to turn a funeral home into a fun zone.

Federal board OKs high-speed rail work

Court overturns part of port's trucking plan

Clint Eastwood looks to loan water to dry zone

MONTEREY . (AP) - Clint Eastwood is looking to make the day of a thirsty section of the California coast. The 83-year-old actor, director and former mayor of Carmel is in negotiations to loan water to a Monterey peninsula utility to help alleviate the region's water shortage. Eastwood is looking to loan California American Water 85 acre-feet-per-year of water from a parcel of land where he controls the water rights. The deal would alleviate the ...

State news briefs

PARADISE . (AP) - Authorities in rural Northern California have found a burning stolen car with three people dead inside. Butte County sheriff's Sgt. Jason Hail says deputies and firefighters responded to reports of a vehicle fire on a road in Magalia 10 miles northeast of Chico early Thursday. They arrived to find a green Acura sedan engulfed in flames when it was out found three bodies. Undersheriff Kory Honea tells the Chico Enterprise-Record that ...

State news briefs

AGENTS PULL 15,000 POT PLANTS IN SIERRA FOREST: OAKHURST (AP) - Agents in Madera County have eradicated nearly 15,000 marijuana plants on two grow sites in the Sierra National Forest.

Lawmakers: What are Bay Bridge incentives?

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State lawmakers want officials overseeing construction of the new eastern portion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to disclose any incentives promised to contractors if the span opens as planned on Labor Day weekend. Fourteen members of California's Assembly and Senate said in a letter that public confidence could be damaged if there's an appearance of a rush to finish the span to meet the deadline. The Sacramento Bee reported on the ...

Timing of Prop. 8 ruling complicates rally

2 dead as homemade plane crashes in NorCal.

MONTAGUE (AP) - Officials say two men were killed when a small homemade plane crashed in a field in Northern California near the Oregon state line.

Lawsuits over go surveillance languish

State news briefs

BOY, GRANDMOTHER DROWN IN BACKYARD POOL IN VISALIA: VISALIA (AP) - A 3-year-old boy and his 50-year-old grandmother apparently drowned in a family pool, police said Wednesday.

Bus, trolley collide;15 taken to hospital

Brown plan gives $3.6B extra to schools