Brown says schools' future at stake

Modesto officer arrested on molestation charges

MODESTO (AP) - Modesto police say they have arrested a 15-year veteran of their force on molestation charges. The police department said in a release that 40-year-old police officer Robert Hodges was taken into custody Monday, hours after the department learned about the allegations. Hodges is accused of molesting an underage female family member repeatedly between 2009 and ...

Stockton: Nine murders in 51 hours

STOCKTON (AP) - An 88-year-old woman was fatally shot in an upscale Stockton senior home and her two nieces were slain in an apparent triple murder that ended when the suspected gunman was found dead, police said. Investigators suspect Colin McGrattan, 45, killed his ex-wife, Jackie Arata, 57; her sister, Kathleen Arata, 64; and the women's aunt, ...

First storm of season drops 2 feet of snow

State news briefs

Judge drops bail slightly to $1.2M for LA official

Brown lauds strength of American Indians

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday told a national gathering of American Indians that the adversity they faced in the past should be a "confidence builder" for future achievements. Brown took a break Monday from campaigning for his tax initiative to address the National Congress of American Indians. The nation's oldest and largest organization representing American Indians and Alaska ...

Disney defends new Hispanic-influenced princess who is blue-eyed & fair-skinned

Tornado hits near Yuba City, no injuries reported

Parents considering legal action over free yoga classes; say its indoctrination

ENCINITAS (AP) - A group of parents is bent out of shape by free yoga classes at schools in this San Diego County beachside community, fearing they are indoctrinating youngsters in eastern religion. "There's a deep concern that the Encinitas Union School District is using taxpayer resources to promote Ashtanga yoga and Hinduism, a religion system of beliefs and practices," the parents' ...

Male beluga whale mimics human speech

SAN DIEGO (AP) - It could be the muffled sound of singing in the shower or that sing-songy indecipherable voice from the Muppets' Swedish Chef. Surprisingly, scientists said the audio they captured was a whale imitating people. In fact, the whale song sounded so eerily human that divers initially thought it was a human voice. Handlers at the ...

Bay Area briefs

TECH FIRM MOVING TO SF'S MID-MARKET NEIGHBORHOOD: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco's plans to revitalize its blighted mid-Market neighborhood are getting another boost.

State news briefs

VALLEJO POLICE FATALLY SHOOT MAN WITH RIFLE: VALLEJO (AP) - A Vallejo police officer shot and killed a 29-year-old man who pointed a rifle at another officer early Sunday, police said.

5.3-magnitude quake, rattles King City

SALINAS (AP) - A moderate earthquake and minor aftershocks jolted the central California coast over the weekend but didn't cause any damage, authorities said.

Dead man found at shooting wearing armor

INGLEWOOD (AP) - Police were nearly certain Sunday that a man found dead at the property where five members of a Southern California family were shot - two fatally - was the killer because he was wearing body armor, clutching a handgun and had a bullet hole in his head.

Uncle Sam ends Sir Francis Drake debate

POINT REYES (AP) - The federal government has apparently ended a 433-year-old historical controversy by determining that English sea captain and explorer Sir Francis Drake came ashore in what is now a county in the San Francisco Bay area when he claimed California for England.

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.

Jerry Brown set to become longest serving governor in state history

SoCal fire danger level is high

Attorney denies SF man ran rogue drug website

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco man denies charges that he operated an encrypted website where users could anonymously shop for drugs such as heroin and LSD, his attorney said on Friday. "We deny all charges. That's the end of the discussion," said federal public defender Brandon LeBlanc, who is representing defendant Ross Ulbricht. The denial came after Ulbricht, looking calm, appeared in federal court in red prison clothes and shackles for a bail ...

State sues Uncle Sam over transit workers

Stockton recycling plant fire out

STOCKTON (AP) - Authorities say a fire at a recycling plant in Stockton that briefly shut down a major interstate is out. Crews were still watching for hot spots on Friday morning, a day after the fire at the Newark Recycling & Recovery plant near downtown started. The fire burned paper and cardboard and caused two large propane tanks to explode. Stockton Fire Chief Operator Matt Harris said high winds on Thursday scattered embers from ...

Lawyer upset about plea deal for ex-Bell official

News from around california

BROWN OKS BILL ALLOWING MORE THAN 2 LEGAL PARENTS: SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation making California the fifth state to allow judges to declare a child has more than two legal parents.

West Nile death reported in San Bernardino

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) - San Bernardino County health officials say a person has died after being infected with the West Nile virus. The death was reported Friday. The person's name, age and gender were not immediately made public. The death was the seventh this year in California due to West Nile virus. The other fatalities occurred in Los Angeles, Glenn, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties. The virus is transmitted through the bite of an ...

Stockton bankruptcy exit plan clears city council; court next

STOCKTON (AP) - The city of Stockton's plan to emerge from bankruptcy has cleared the city council. The council voted 6-0 on Thursday to give Deis authority to file the plan with U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein. The plan could still face opposition from the city's creditors. City officials have said the plan's success depends on voters approving a three-quarter-cent sales tax hike in November. The tax revenue would help close an $11 million deficit ...