SF startup makes data science a sport

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Strange secrets hide in numbers. For instance, an orange used car is least likely to be a lemon.

Women linked by Manson murders form odd friendship

CORCORAN (AP) - On August 9, 1969, two naive 17-year-old girls were launched on a path that led to the unlikeliest of friendships.

Multigenerational housing trends prompt redesign of new homes

LOS ANGELES (AP) - It's a home within a home - and it could be coming soon to a home near you.

Rare tragedy at sea hits SF’s sailing community

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A century-old tradition, the Full Crew Farallones Race has never been for the faint of heart: Winds averaging 10 to 20 knots and churning 14-foot Pacific Ocean swells are among the rough conditions typically braved by yachts and their crews during the daylong regatta, a spring favorite of skilled sailors.

AG wants mortgage, homeowner protections

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's attorney general is seeking to build on a recent nationwide bank settlement over home foreclosures by lobbying state lawmakers to advance a package of mortgage-protection bills, which faces critical tests in legislative committees this week.

State news briefs

• COUPLE DIED IN MALL MURDER-SUICIDE, GIRL SURVIVED: SAN JOSE (AP) - Police say two people found dead in an apparent murder-suicide at a Northern California strip mall parking lot were once a couple and that a toddler found nearby is their daughter.

Police: Guns show Modesto double murder suspect set for confrontation

MODESTO (AP) - Police investigating the death of a man suspected of gunning down a California sheriff's deputy and a civilian say they've found equipment indicating he was preparing for an armed confrontation: a ballistic vest, a gas mask and several weapons including a high-powered assault rifle.

State news briefs

WEIGHTLIFTER SHOT, SAYS DUMBBELL DROPPED ON BULLET: MODESTO (AP) - A California weightlifter says he accidentally shot himself by dropping a dumbbell on a bullet.

Brother: Painter Kinkade relapsed into alcoholism

MONTE SERENO (AP) - Painter Thomas Kinkade battled alcoholism over the past several years and had a relapse just before his death this month at his home in Santa Clara County, his brother, Patrick, said. The self-described "Painter of Light" died in Monte Sereno on April 6 at age 54 of what a spokesman has said was natural causes. An autopsy is ...

Charred body found in burned out home in Modesto standoff

Brown tells state lawmakers time to 'man up' on budget cuts

State treasurer's saga takes odd twist with email about supplying drugs

More than 90 rounds fired at freeway chase suspect

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Officers fired more than 90 rounds at a motorist who was killed on a San Fernando Valley freeway after a wild car chase, police said. A partial transcript of a 911 call placed by 19-year-old Abdul Arian during the Wednesday night pursuit shows Arian claimed he had a gun and would shoot officers. He ...

Deal protects 7-mile North Coast property

VENTURA . (AP) - A pristine swath of California coast that includes redwood groves, agricultural fields and picturesque ocean bluffs west of State Route 1 has been sheltered from developers in a deal approved by the California Coastal Commission. The commission's unanimous approval in Ventura on Thursday protects the sprawling 7&frac12;-mile northern Santa Cruz County stretch known as Coast Dairies. <p style="line-height: ...

Bay Area briefs

Officials scramble to keep Lucas studio SAN RAFAEL . (AP) - Marin County officials are scrambling to convince filmmaker George Lucas not to abandon plans to build a sprawling movie studio north of San Francisco, but the company says it's too late. Lucasfilm Ltd. shocked the community Tuesday when it announced it was scrapping the Grady Ranch project, citing regulatory delays and bitter ...

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.