Demi Moore 911 tape prompts more to adopt privacy bill for calls to police

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A state lawmaker upset over details revealed in a recent emergency call involving actress Demi Moore is seeking to restrict the sort of information that can be publicly disclosed in 911 tapes.

Riverbank councilman arrested for DUI, child endangerment in Oakdale collision

OAKDALE (AP) - A city councilman was arrested Monday after police said he struck a car while driving under the influence then ran from the scene, leaving his injured young son behind.

Survivor of 1906 SF quake dies at 109

SANTA ROSA (AP) - One of the oldest known survivors of the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake has died at age 109, family members said Monday.

Bay Area news briefs

• Occupy protestors outside San Quentin: SAN QUENTIN (AP) - As many as 700 peaceful Occupy demonstrators gathered outside San Quentin State Prison this afternoon as part of a nationwide effort to call for prison reform.

State news briefs

• WHITNEY HOUSTON'S DRESS, EARRINGS UP FOR AUCTION: LOS ANGELES (AP) - There had to be an auction, but so soon?

Westbound Bay Bridge opens Sunday some two days ahead of Caltrans’ targeted schedule

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Work has gone so smoothly on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that the westbound direction of the bridge will be open Sunday night, well ahead of Tuesday morning's expected opening, a Caltrans official said.

Scouts to turn over files in sex abuse case

SANTA BARBARA (AP) - A judge overseeing a lawsuit brought by the family of a California boy molested by his troop leader in 2007 has ordered the Boy Scouts of America to hand over confidential files detailing allegations of sexual abuse by Scout leaders around the nation.

Group seeks to protect Lake Tahoe tributary

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) - An anglers' group is asking the federal government to protect a stretch of the Upper Truckee River south of Lake Tahoe with a "wild and scenic" designation.

State news in brief

• PLANE, COPTER COLLIDE NEAR RIO VISTA: RIO VISTA (AP) - Officials say a small plane and a helicopter landed safely after making contact in the air in the Sacramento Delta with both pilots sustaining slight injuries injuries.

Lawmakers switch days to collect payments; picket $65,000 on Friday

Chinese leader Xi, Biden promote trade in LA

State news briefs

District didn't notify state of teacher dismissal

SoCal congressional race heats up over acceptance of PG&E campaign money

State news briefs

UC DAVIS CHANCELLOR FACES FACULTY CONFIDENCE VOTE:DAVIS (AP) - The chancellor of the University of California, Davis faces a faculty vote Friday on her ability to lead the campus following the widely condemned pepper-spraying of student protesters.

State gangs a force in Central American prisons

Mom, 2 sons thankful for 3 heart transplants

SAN MARCOS (AP) - Last Thanksgiving, Deanna Kremis was in heart failure and could barely get off the couch - and her two teenage sons knew exactly how she felt.

Violence in jails on rise since reform

SACRAMENTO (AP) - County jails that account for the vast majority of local inmates in California have seen a marked increase in violence since they began housing thousands of offenders who previously would have gone to state prisons.

Gay Russian seeks asylum in U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court has ordered immigration officials to review their decision not to grant asylum to a gay man who said he was attacked for his sexual orientation in 2002 and 2003 in his native Russia and feared he would be persecuted if forced to return there.

SF dog held for ransom

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco police are trying to identify three robbery suspects who stormed into a woman's apartment and briefly held her dog ransom.

Coast Guard rescues 3

HALF MOON BAY, (AP) - Authorities say a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescued three of four people in a vehicle that went down an embankment on Highway 92 near Half Moon Bay. The crash around 12:30 a.m. Thursday resulted in minor injuries. But CHP Officer Art Montiel said the vehicle became stuck about 600 feet down an embankment.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• WOMAN SUSPECTED OF ABANDONING NEWBORN: GALT (AP) - A 30-year-old woman is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder after police say she abandoned her newborn girl in a flower bed in Sacramento County minutes after giving birth. Dwanda Mahoney - described as a transient by police - was being held without bail Thursday, a day after her arrest. Police say they received a report of a crying baby in a flower bed at ...

News from around california

400 SF TEACHERS ABSENT ON DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Hundreds of San Francisco teachers played hooky Tuesday, extending their Thanksgiving holiday and forcing school officials to scramble to find substitutes qualified to take their places.

Bar asked to remove sign thanking veterans

HUNTINGTON BEACH . (AP) - The owner of an Orange County bar has gotten a brief reprieve from a notice ordering him to remove a rooftop sign thanking veterans. Johnny Kresimir was told Monday to remove the sign atop Johnny's Saloon in Huntington Beach within two days, or start racking up fines. But now Kresimir tells the Orange County Register that city officials want to sit down with him next week, so the deadline's off ...

Ruling on hot sauce factory raises job worries

IRWINDALE . (AP) - A judge has ordered a plant that produces the popular Sriracha chili sauce to stop emitting annoying odors in a ruling that left some nearby residents worried about a possible loss of jobs at the factory. Judge Robert H. O'Brien on Tuesday ruled in favor of the city of Irwindale, where Sriracha recently relocated, saying sauce maker Huy Fong Foods must stop any operations that could be causing the odors and ...

Garth Brooks focused on live show

Central California man arrested in stepson's death

VISALIA (AP) - Authorities were keeping mum Wednesday on what led them to arrest a Central California man on suspicion of murder in the death of his teenage stepson, whose body was found days after he was reported missing. Visalia Police Chief Colleen Mestas would only say that evidence and investigation led them to arrest 32-year-old Miguel Angel Villegas Pacheco on Tuesday in the death of Dameian "Luke" Gulley. The 14-year-old's body was found partially ...

Hurdle for high-speed rail: Where is the money?

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A judge's rulings this week ordered California's high-speed rail authority to rewrite its funding plan, bringing to the surface again one of the biggest hurdles facing the ambitious, $68 billion project: Where will the money come from to complete it?

News from across San Joaquin

PORT OF STOCKTON GOES AFTER WATER HYACINTH: STOCKTON (AP) - Port officials in Stockton have removed hundreds of thousands of pounds of an invasive plant that has clogged their waterway and other waterways and harbors in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Calif. losing its edge in higher education

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - More attention must be paid to the California State University system and to the state's community colleges if California is going to produce the educated workers its economy needs, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom says in a report issued Tuesday. The report commissioned by Newsom argues that the state is losing its place as a national leader in higher education. The report, prepared by the nonpartisan Committee for Economic Development based in ...

News from around california

AIRCRAFT INTRUDES ON OBAMA RESTRICTED AIRSPACE: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Fighter jets patrolling over a fundraising appearance by President Barack Obama in Los Angeles were scrambled Tuesday morning after an aircraft entered restricted airspace.