California receives approval for health exchange

Bay Area briefs

RETIREES PROMISED LIFETIME HEALTH COVERAGE SUE: LIVERMORE (AP) - A California appeals court says Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory retirees who were promised lifetime health care can sue over a switch to a private plan that costs more and covers less.

Snowpack looks good, but dry January looms

Fiscal cliff deal brings some relief to California

Helicopter wreckage found near Delano

DELANO (AP) - Sheriff's officials have located the wreckage of a helicopter that disappeared in Central California while trying to keep crops from freezing, and they say the female pilot is dead. Kern County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ray Pruitt said the crash site was found at 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday, about four hours after the helicopter vanished. Pruitt ...

3D laser project aims to preserve missions

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California's centuries-old Spanish missions are getting cutting-edge 3D treatment. An Oakland-based nonprofit called CyArk is using 3D technology to scan the historic missions in an effort to preserve them, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. The idea is to make a virtual 3D model of the structures so if they're damaged in earthquakes or ...

Paparazzo killed after taking shots of Justin Bieber car

Bay Area briefs

POINT REYES DROWNING PROMPTS WARNING ABOUT HIGH WAVES: POINT REYES (AP) - Authorities are warning beachgoers to be careful after a man was swept out to sea by a large wave and drowned while trying to save his dog on a Northern California beach.

Storm returns to TV 3 weeks after grill accident to host Rose parade telecast

PASADENA (AP) - With a wave of her bandaged left hand, and boosted by well wishes from Dr. Phil, Chris Evert and even a young woman she once babysat, Hannah Storm returned to a most comfortable setting - talking in front of a TV camera.

San Jose police arrest naked man wielding sword during 3-hour New Year’s standoff

SAN JOSE (AP) - Police arrested a naked man wielding a large Samurai sword after a three-hour New Year's Day standoff in San Jose.

State news briefs

WHALES, ELEPHANT SEALS DELIGHT NORCAL BEACHGOERS: POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE (AP) - Gray whales and elephant seals are putting on a show at Point Reyes National Seashore, delighting beachgoers.

Salinas school named after bandido ignites debate

Newspaper defies trend to shrink costs

Slain venture capitalist accused of bad deals

MONTE SERENO (AP) - A Silicon Valley venture capitalist killed in his mansion had been accused by former business associates of underhanded dealings and attempts to hide millions from creditors, court documents have revealed. In the documents filed during his divorce proceedings, slaying victim Raveesh "Ravi" Kumra was accused by two former business associates as a troubled alcoholic who used a "sham ...

Heartwarming moments at Rose Parade

Brown vetoes non-citizens on juries

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have allowed non-citizens who are legal residents to serve as jurors in California. "Jury service, like voting, is quintessentially a prerogative and responsibility of citizenship," Brown said in an announcement Monday accompanying his veto of AB1401. "This bill would permit lawful permanent residents who are not citizens to serve on a jury. I don't think that's right." The bill by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, ...

Carter: Middle class today resembles poor from past years

OAKLAND (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter says the income gap in the United States has increased to the point where members of the middle class resemble the Americans who lived in poverty when he occupied the White House.

News from around california

Elk Grove wants to expand boundaries

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Leaders in Elk Grove are pushing a plan to expand the city's boundaries by 8,000 acres, but opponents are raising concerns about traffic and environmental damage. The city, already one of the nation's fastest-growing, wants more room to add employers and maintain open space within city limits. The Sacramento County Local Agency Formation Commission, which consists of four elected officials and one member of the public, is expected to decide on the ...

State aims to crack down on tax evasion

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Not everyone is conscientious about paying their tax bill, and the scofflaws cost California an estimated $9 billion a year in uncollected revenue. Lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown want to change that dynamic by creating a task force charged with bringing the state's underground economy into the open and collecting the corporate, personal, and sales and use taxes owed the state. The Democratic governor on Monday announced the signing of legislation is ...

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday issued a public health alert for raw

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday issued a public health alert for raw chicken packaged at three Foster Farms facilities in California after 278 people fell ill.

Bitten surfer says shark came from nowhere

EUREKA (AP) - It was a perfect day for surfing. Except for the shark. Jay Scrivner, a 45-year-old college English teacher, was waiting for waves off the Northern California coast near his hometown of Eureka on Sunday morning after surfing for about two hours when a great white he estimated at about 8-to-9 feet long bit his thigh and board. "Sometimes you have a feeling that the water is weird," Scrivner told The Associated Press ...

Students find way to play games on iPads

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Education officials in the nation's second-largest school district are working to reboot a $1 billion plan to put an iPad in the hands of each of their 650,000 students after an embarrassing glitch emerged when the first round of tablets went out.

Major movie involving sharks filming in Reno, Lake Tahoe

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Filming for a major motion picture is scheduled to begin soon in northern Nevada, something the local producer says will become more common in the years ahead as some new tax incentives for the industry kick in.

Pendleton Marine base partially evacuates from

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Evacuation orders remained in place Sunday as crews built containment lines around a wind-driven wildfire that scorched 1,500 acres of dry brush and damaged four buildings at a Southern California military base.

Teen on trial for theft of chef’s Lamborhghini

SAN RAFAEL (AP) - The trial of a Northern California teenager charged with the brazen theft of celebrity chef Guy Fieri's Lamborghini sports car from a San Francisco dealership has started in a Marin County courtroom.

Sloppy Silicon Valley techies find their style

SAN JOSE (AP) - The Silicon Valley has had a men's fashion problem dating back to its founders.

Dozens play chess in public in defiance of SF crackdown

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - At least for an afternoon, the chess players were back at the usual spot they've occupied for years along downtown San Francisco's busy Market Street.