State News Briefs

'HUNGER GAMES' BATTLES TO $155M OPENING WEEKEND: LOS ANGELES (AP) - "The Hunger Games" has filled fan appetites with a $155 million opening weekend that puts it near the top of the domestic record book.

Hmong community launches online translator

FRESNO (AP) - When Phong Yang, a Hmong refugee from Laos, landed in California's Central Valley - via stops in Thailand and France - he was 14 years old. He learned to speak Hmong from his parents, but today he has a hard time teaching the language to his children, who are distracted by cell phones and computers.

USC/Times poll finds California GOP support for Romney grows

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mitt Romney is running away with Republican support in California, as the leader of the national presidential field enjoys a double digit lead over his competitors in the GOP, a new survey finds.

How many pot patients California has is anyone's guess based on state system

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California has seven times as many residents as Colorado, but nearly nine times fewer medical marijuana users, at least on paper.

Vegas rail from Victorville to Sin City: A gamble or good thing?

VICTORVILLE (AP) - On a dusty, rock-strewn expanse at the edge of the Mojave Desert, a company linked to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wants to build a bullet train that would rocket tourists from the middle of nowhere to the gambling palaces of Las Vegas.

LA marijuana dispensary workers join labor union connected with food workers

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Marijuana dispensary workers in Los Angeles have joined a labor union to fight for their jobs in an industry that the federal government considers illegal. Workers at 14 pot shops have formed the "medical cannabis and hemp division" of the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 770. The 35,000-member union also represents grocery clerks, pharmacists and health care ...

State jobless rate unchanged at 10.9 percent

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's unemployment rate remained unchanged in February at 10.9 percent as steady job growth continued, but the state still has a long way to go to fully recover from the recession. Its jobless rate remains well above the national average of 8.3 percent. The state Employment Development Department reported Friday that the seasonally adjusted jobless ...

State news briefs

CLERK'S WALLET STOPS BULLET DURING ROBBER STRUGGLE: MODESTO (AP) - A Modesto convenience store clerk's wallet has stopped a bullet during a struggle with an armed robber.

Munger says Brown tax claims untrue; vows TV blitz to get the truth out to voters

Disney image displayed for first time in 40 years

Orange County woman gets life term for killing ill husband to avoid paying for cancer treatments

Bay Area news briefs

Home where Black Panther Party was founded flipped

Suspect dead, officer hurt in Stockton shooting

STOCKTON (AP) - Stockton police say an officer fatally shot a 19-year-old man who had wounded another officer during a shootout. The police department said Thursday that Chomrean Meas of Stockton was shot during a confrontation with two officers shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday near Plaza Robles High School. Officials say Meas did not follow police orders, then ...

‘Cops: Missing Morgan Hill teen's bag found on road a few miles from her home

MORGAN HILL . (AP) - Nearly a week after a 15-year-old Northern California girl disappeared on her way to school, family members and friends remained baffled about what happened to her. Authorities disclosed Thursday that they had found Sierra LaMar's purse a few miles from her home on Sunday but saw no signs of foul play and were still treating her as ...

Power supply at issue with two nuke plants offline

FOLSOM (AP) - The indefinite shutdown of two nuclear reactors on the Southern California coast could prompt officials this summer to bring in electric generators on barges or restart retired power plants to make up for lost electricity, state regulators were told Thursday. Analysts at the agency that operates California's wholesale power system outlined a series of possible steps to avoid blackouts, ...

Glitch known before changes delayed checks

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California officials knew a computer upgrade for the state's unemployment insurance program that delayed tens of thousands of benefit checks was vulnerable to problems before it was installed, according to a report from The Sacramento Bee. Officials underestimated how many unemployment claims would be affected by a glitch in the nearly $188 million system upgrade implemented over Labor Day weekend. The data-conversion problem delayed jobless benefits for nearly 150,000 Californians, skewing ...

He survived eating squirrels for 2 plus weeks

2nd worker dies at 49ers stadium site

SANTA CLARA (AP) - Construction is slated to restart Tuesday at the new $1.2 billion San Francisco 49ers showcase stadium after police and fire investigators determined a truck driver's death was a workplace accident and not a crime. The delivery truck driver was crushed early Monday by a bundle of rebar being unloaded from his truck, officials at the scene said. It's the second worker death at the construction project. An ambulance rushed the severely ...

BART strike averted at least for day

News from around california

OLD SF BUSES TO BE TURNED INTO HOMELESS SHOWERS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco woman has a refreshing idea to help the homeless: Portable showers on old city buses.

Pumpkin from Napa weighs in at 1,985 lbs

HALF MOON BAY (AP) - California's Napa Valley apparently is good at growing more than grapes.

Analysis: Many LA buildings at risk during quake

LOS ANGELES (AP) - More than 1,000 aging buildings in Los Angeles County could be at risk of falling down during a major earthquake, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.

Man on trial for deadly family attack after breakup

SANTA ANA (AP) - When she was a college freshman, Shayona Dhanak told her Muslim boyfriend she was splitting with him because of her devout Hindu family's opposition. Two months later, her father and sister were killed, her mother attacked and the family's Southern California home doused with gasoline and set on fire.

Relics transform small SoCal Buddhist temple in Rosemead

ROSEMEAD (AP) - Although he'd been a practicing Buddhist for 20 years, until 10 months ago Dharma Master YongHua hadn't even seen so much as one of the sacred relics known as shariras that are so important to his faith.

New Tahoe bear battle tactics

LAKE TAHOE (AP) - It's not your average bear battle.

Brown vetoes sex abuse lawsuit bill

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Saturday that would have allowed some sex abuse victims who are now barred by the statute of limitations to file lawsuits against private institutions that employed their abusers.

Teacher stabbed in front of students

LONG BEACH (AP) - Nearly 100 people attended a memorial Saturday to mourn an elementary school teacher who was fatally stabbed in the neck while watching her students play at a park.

Growing backlash to government surveillance

SAN JOSE (AP) - From Silicon Valley to the South Pacific, counterattacks to revelations of widespread National Security Agency surveillance are taking shape, from a surge of new encrypted email programs to technology that sprinkles the Internet with red flag terms to confuse would-be snoops.

BART, unions negotiate as streak deadline looms

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - With a strike deadline drawing ever closer, negotiators for San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system and its two unions prepared Sunday to resume contract talks that could prevent hundreds of thousands of commuters from having to find costlier and longer ways to work.

SF landmark Cliff House reopens

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A landmark San Francisco restaurant that became a casualty of the federal government shutdown has gotten the green light to reopen.