High-powered lesbians create own PAC

Feds target popular Oakland pot shop for closure via property seizure

House Democrats fall short in blocking food stamp reductions

Governor issues furloughs for last 2 labor groups impacting 11,000 state workers

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown issued a furlough order Wednesday for more than 11,000 California workers whose unions have yet to reach a deal for a 5 percent wage cut. Brown's order forces employees to take one day of unpaid leave a month, which amounts to a pay cut of about 5 percent. Bruce Blanning, executive ...

Another California city opts for bankruptcy

State news briefs

POLICE: TRACY MOTEL OWNER, 62, KILLED BY NAKED MAN: TRACY (AP) - Tracy police are investigating the death of a motel owner who was allegedly killed by a naked man in her business office.

Peter O'Toole retires with 'dry-eyed farewell'

Appeals court to examine Calif. ballot numbering

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An appeals court is asking the California secretary of state to explain why Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative should be first on the November ballot. The Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento agreed Tuesday to examine a challenge to the decision, one day after the state's chief elections officer assigned numbers to 11 measures on the November ballot. ...

Bay Area briefs

UC tuition could rise sharply if tax measure fails

Family of soldier sues security firm over death

Injured hiker saves rescuer hit by copter blades

Firefighters try to outrun heat wave

ACLU files suit against LA County sheriff, DA for withholding evidence

$3.2M yacht sinks in Lake Tahoe marina

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) - Witnesses at the Tahoe Keys Marina say they heard screeching, the sound of tearing metal, and a passenger yell "oh, no!" late Sunday night. By about 3 a.m. Monday, a three-story, $3.2 million yacht ...

S. California, Sierra experiencing heat wave

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Southern California's deserts and interior valleys broiled in triple-digit or upper 90s temperatures on Monday as a mini heat wave set in. The National Weather Service said warming brought by a strong, upper-level high centered over the Great Basin would peak on Tuesday and Wednesday. Excessive heat warnings will be in effect most of Tuesday across the deserts, ...

Lawsuits over go surveillance languish

State news briefs

BOY, GRANDMOTHER DROWN IN BACKYARD POOL IN VISALIA: VISALIA (AP) - A 3-year-old boy and his 50-year-old grandmother apparently drowned in a family pool, police said Wednesday.

Bus, trolley collide;15 taken to hospital

Brown plan gives $3.6B extra to schools

State news briefs

BILL TO BAN LEAD AMMO ADVANCES IN CALIF. SENATE: SACRAMENTO (AP) - California is one step closer to becoming the first state in the nation to ban lead ammunition for hunting.

SoCal home prices soar during May

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Southern California home prices rose in May at the fastest annual clip in nearly nine years as investors and cash purchasers competed for a thin supply of properties for sale, a research firm said Tuesday. The median price for new and existing houses and condominiums reached $368,000 last month, up 24.7 percent from May 2012, DataQuick said. It was the 14th straight month of annual gains and the biggest annual increase ...

Judge overturns jury death sentence

STOCKTON (AP) - A San Joaquin County judge has overturned a jury's decision to send a man to death row in the slaying of his prison cellmate - the second time he was convicted of killing a cellmate. Judge Terrence Van Oss commuted the sentence of John Joseph Lydon on Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The 40-year-old Lydon was serving a 69-years-to-life term for the murder of a cellmate when ...

SF supervisor wants flexible work law for City

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco businesses would be required to offer parents and caregivers flexible work schedules under a proposal a city supervisor wants to take before voters in November. Supervisor David Chiu's measure would allow workers to ask their employers to adjust their start times, telecommute or job share. Employers would only be able to deny the request if it created an undue hardship for the company, including increasing its costs or affecting ...

4.5% pay raise in works for state workers

Highlights of the Democratic spending plan

Democrats hope for more spending

Vallejo lets residents say how to spend $3.2M in city budget

VALLEJO (AP) - A Northern California city that emerged from bankruptcy two years ago is trying a novel approach to setting part of its budget: having the public decide. The city of Vallejo let residents over the age of 16 vote in May on how to spend about $3.2 million, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday Taxpayers were allowed to pick from 33 projects, with the top 12 sharing the money. The winners included pothole ...

Readying for possible return of gay marriage

Boiler room explosion rattles Santa Ana high school campus

SANTA ANA (AP) - An explosion Tuesday in the boiler room of a Southern California high school gymnasium briefly lifted up the building's roof, damaging the structure but causing no major injuries. The blast around 7:30 a.m. at Valley High School in Santa Ana was in a girls' locker room and happened before classes began, although some students were arriving on campus, authorities said. Security camera video broadcast by KABC-TV showed the fiery explosion lift ...

Bay Area briefs

8 INDICTED IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY GANG CRACKDOWN : SAN JOSE (AP) - A Santa Clara County grand jury has indicted 48 reputed members of a violent street gang for crimes ranging from drug dealing to murder in the county's largest such case to date.