Navy nears power deal to help avoid Southern Cal blackouts

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The U.S. Navy is nearing a first-time agreement to curb electricity use at its sprawling San Diego-area bases if power runs short in Southern California this summer, a deal intended to diminish the threat of blackouts while the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant remains offline.

Bill cuts tuition by closing loophole

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Democratic lawmakers are offering a way to help California's middle class families cope with soaring college tuition: close a corporate tax loophole and use the money for scholarships.

Yacht debris, bodies found off coast

ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) - A 37-foot racing yacht was reduced to debris that looked it "like it had gone through a blender," a searcher said Sunday after the boat apparently collided with a larger vessel, killing three sailors and leaving a fourth missing.

State news briefs

• Navy to auction off once-secret stealth warship: SACRAMENTO (AP) - A $50 million, once-secret stealth warship built nearly 30 years ago for the U.S. Navy is now set to be auctioned off for scrap.

No charges to be filed in Nadia Lockyer case

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Prosecutors will not file criminal charges after investigating an alleged attack on the wife of the California treasurer by an ex-boyfriend, the state attorney general's office said Friday.

State news briefs

VALLEJO MAN'S EYEBALL PLUCKED OUT IN ROOMMATE SPAT: VALLEJO (AP) - A roommate squabble has left a man with only one good eye after a dispute over a loud radio turned violent.

Ocean boat races halted after fatal crash

Holstein with mad cow disease on Hanford farm was lame, lying down

Yahoo escalates patent battle with Facebook

California educators find photos of state tests on social networking sites

Man who may be last Golden Gate Bridge worker dies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Jack Balestreri was 17 when he got a job helping build the Golden Gate Bridge. He had hoped to make it to the span's 75th anniversary next month. But Balestreri - believed to be the last surviving bridge worker - died of natural causes at his San Francisco home on April 21, his daughter, Gayle Balestreri, told The ...

Sea creatures clog intake at PG&E nuclear power plant ; forces now 2reactors shutdown

SAN LUIS OBISPO (AP) - An overwhelming number of jellyfish-like creatures clogging seawater intake screens forced operators on Thursday to shut down the Unit 2 reactor at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, Pacific Gas & Electric officials said. Both reactors at the central coast plant are now offline. Unit 1 was shut down earlier this month for ...

Bay Area briefs

Prison in restaurant illegal worker case OAKLAND (AP) - The owner of a San Francisco Bay area restaurant chain has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for hiring illegal immigrants. Besides the 41 months in prison, El Balazo restaurants owner Marino Sandoval must pay more than $2 million restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. His ...

Religious leaders like Brown's tax plan for taking from rich & giving to poor

Researcher spies odd lava spirals on Mars

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A researcher has spotted lava flows shaped like coils of rope near the equator of Mars, the first time such geologic features have been discovered outside of Earth.

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