State news briefs

BILL TO CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLE MOVES FORWARD: SACRAMENTO (AP) - The Assembly has approved a bill that would help middle class Californians cope with soaring college costs by closing a corporate tax loophole and using the expected windfall to reduce tuition.

Chevron refinery deemed hazardous

Michelle Obama teases Gabby Douglas over fast food

UC argues in favor of race-conscious admissions in Supreme Court case

Phone companies lose broadband subscribers for 1st time to cable firms

Cleaner burning UP locomotives down the track?

ROSEVILLE (AP) - Union Pacific said on Monday that it will spend $20 million testing low-emissions locomotives in California. The railroad may eventually test up to 25 locomotives with various low-emissions technology. They include one, to be based in Roseville that will use several emissions-reducing technologies, including recirculating its exhaust gasses. The railroad and the California Air Resources ...

Western states bake under extended heat wave

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Temperatures soared into triple digits across the western United States on Sunday as a continuing heat wave strained energy supplies and sent thousands to beaches, lakes and shopping malls in search of cooler climes.

Military sexual assault is focus of series

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military are the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.

GOP struggling with November in sight

BURBANK (AP) - With November elections approaching, the California Republican Party is in trouble, struggling to pay its bills and hold its ground in a state that has been growing increasingly favorable for Democratic candidates.

Richmond refinery fire probe focuses on corrosion on decades-old pipeline

RICHMOND (AP) - Federal investigators probing the cause of a massive Chevron oil refinery fire are focusing on possible corrosion in a decades-old pipe the company inspected late last year but did not replace.

State news briefs

WOMAN DIES AFTER GETTING HIT BY CHP MOTORCYCLE: OAKLAND (AP) - A 43-year-old Hayward has died after getting hit by a California Highway Patrol motorcycle.

Fires threaten hundreds of homes on north state

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Authorities have lifted an evacuation order for residents in a rural area northeast of Fresno as firefighters gain control of a blaze sparked by a discarded cigarette.

Police embrace emerging social media tool

OAKLAND (AP) - Minutes after a shooting near the Oakland Airport this year, the gunman was on the loose. And police Sgt. Chris Bolton quickly fired off a flurry of text alerts to thousands of nearby residents through a social media tool for law enforcement agencies.

Death possibly linked to California heat

Senate kills live feed of ballot measure hearing

State news briefs

LA schools consider banning defiance suspensions

Dad wants evidence in girl's stabbing

State Senate OKs ski safety legislation

Bay Area briefs

FEDS TO PROBE REPAIR WORK ON BAD BAY BRIDGE RODS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Federal Highway Administration on Monday said it is investigating the state's response to broken steel seismic safety rods on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

State news briefs

15 OF 23 CAL STATE CAMPUSES CHARGE GRADUATION FEES: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Graduating students at more than a dozen California public universities will have to hand over money before they are handed their diplomas, a newspaper reported.

End near for evangelical radio network?

Girl , 7, escapes kidnapper's car trunk in Sacramento

Ginsburg: Roe gave abortion opponents a target

CHICAGO (AP) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she supports a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, but feels her predecessors' landmark Roe v. Wade ruling 40 years ago was too sweeping and gave abortion opponents a symbol to target.

Person of interest named in jogger killed by pit bull pack

PALMDALE . (AP) - Sheriff's authorities said a man who was arrested this week on suspicion of growing marijuana is now a "person of interest" in the death of a 63-year-old jogger who was mauled to death by a pack of pit bulls in the Mojave Desert.

Los Angeles, Paris project aims to track big city carbon footprints

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Every time Los Angeles exhales, odd-looking gadgets anchored in the mountains above the city trace the invisible puffs of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that waft skyward.

Relentless thief still taking Tahoe crawfish traps - 160 stolen so far

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) - It's not that easy to catch crawfish in Lake Tahoe. Turns out, it may be harder to keep them.

Black student targeted with racist note

IRVINE (AP) - University of California, Irvine officials pledged to work on race relations on campus this week after a black student found a hand-scrawled note in her backpack calling her a slave, making it the second racist incident that has offended black students in recent weeks.

Mom: Accused boy, 12, ‘could never’ hurt sister

VALLEY SPRINGS (AP) - A day before a 12-year-old boy was arrested for the stabbing death of his 8-year-old sister, his mother described him as "protective" of his younger sibling.

State lawmakers debate how to spend $900M in new revenue from loophole

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California schools are expecting a boost from the $900 million to be raised over the next year through the closure of a corporate tax loophole, but Gov. Jerry Brown is locked in a disagreement with state lawmakers over how to hand out that money.

Chris Brown’s scary curbside art irks LA neighbors; city cites him for ‘signage’

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Grammy-winning musician Chris Brown's neighbors are unhappy with what some are calling frightening art he's chosen to have painted along the curb of his Hollywood Hills home.