Bill would prohibit ticket-buying software

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Music and sports fans would have one less obstacle in buying tickets to popular events under a bill advancing through the California Legislature. Legislation by Democratic Assemblyman Richard Pan of Sacramento would prohibit the use of robotic ticket-buying software. Supporters of AB329 say scalpers use the software to bombard online box offices and then resell tickets at higher prices. Lawmakers previously deleted a provision that would have allowed transfers of paperless event ...

Professor assigns students to make ad for his campaign

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco State University professor considering a run for Oakland mayor is drawing scrutiny for a class assignment that asked students to create a political campaign ad and gave them the option of developing it for him. Joe Tuman said he would use the ad if it were good, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday. But ethics experts said any such use of the students' work could run afoul ...

Bay Area briefs

SWALLOWS LAWSUIT MAY DELAY PETALUMA BRIDGE WORK : PETALUMA (AP) - A lawsuit accuses state and federal regulators of causing the death of dozens of migratory cliff swallows by placing nets on a Sonoma County bridge during a highway widening project.

State releases health reform plans, pricing

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

SANTA ANA (AP) - Orange County wants state permission to charge reckless people for the cost of rescuing them. The Orange County Register says county supervisors voted Tuesday to propose state legislation and Assemblyman Don Wagner has agreed to carry a bill. It would permit counties and cities to recover rescue costs for people who put themselves in ...

OC seeks state permission to charge for rescues

SANTA ANA (AP) - Orange County wants state permission to charge reckless people for the cost of rescuing them. The Orange County Register says county supervisors voted Tuesday to propose state legislation and Assemblyman Don Wagner has agreed to carry a bill. It would permit counties and cities to recover rescue costs for people who put themselves in ...

Injured volunteer seeks payment from lost hiker

SANTA ANA (AP) - A volunteer searcher who broke his back while looking for a teenager who was lost in Orange County wilderness says he deserves restitution if the teen is convicted on drug charges. Nick Papageorge, 20, said after Nic Cendoya's arraignment was postponed Wednesday that his medical bills could total $350,000, City News Service reported. Papageorge ...

6 plead not guilty in school embezzlement

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Six current and former San Francisco school district employees have pleaded not guilty to charges that they embezzled $15 million in grant money from the school system. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the six women entered the pleas on Tuesday during their first court appearance. Prosecutors say they diverted federal and state grant ...

Driver impaled by metal rod on I-580 near Livermore.

LIVERMORE (AP) - The California Highway Patrol is looking for witnesses, as it investigates the death of a man who was impaled by a metal rod while driving on Interstate 580 around Livermore. The incident occurred around 8:11 a.m. Wednesday. The CHP says the 2 to 3-foot long rod went through the windshield of the westbound Volvo station wagon, penetrating the driver's ...

Snacking deputy's crash costs Santa Clara County $5M

SAN JOSE (AP) - Santa Clara County is on the hook for a $5 million settlement in a crash involving a sheriff's deputy who allegedly took his eyes off the road while eating a McDonald's hamburger, a newspaper reported. Deputy Greg Markovic smashed into Diem Van Lam's Honda in January in San Jose, leaving Van Lam with injuries including broken ribs and ...

Brown defends California's business climate

State news briefs

POSTAL WORKER SENTENCED IN MAIL THEFT: SAN CARLOS, Calif. (AP) - A San Francisco Bay area postal worker accused of stealing thousands of pieces of mail to obtain credit cards has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

State news briefs

LAWYER: TEEN USED 'MURDER KIT' ON GIRL'S PARENTS: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Prosecutors say a teenager accused of murdering his girlfriend's parents was equipped with a "murder kit" to kill the Compton couple.

Montana man dies in Yosemite climbing accident

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (AP) - A Montana man died in a rock climbing accident as he tried to climb to the top of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, authorities said. Mason Robison, 38, of Columbia Falls, Mont., was killed after a rock dislodged and severed his rope as he and a partner were about 2,300 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor, ...

Unclaimed veterans' remains laid to rest

DIXON (AP) - The unclaimed remains of 35 military veterans, including some from World War I, and two military wives have been given formal military burials in Northern California. The remains, some left unclaimed for decades, were escorted by 120 motorcycles from Santa Rosa to the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon on Monday. "One of the tragedies ...

SF, NY officials wait to judge Apple 'kill switch'

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The top prosecutors in San Francisco and New York say they are reserving judgment of Apple's new iOS7 security feature designed to make it harder to reactivate a stolen iPhone. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Monday they aren't judging Apple Inc.'s new activation lock feature until they can fully understand how it works. Apple mentioned the new feature during the Worldwide Developers ...

FBI investigation stressing lawmaker

Los Angeles jury recommends death in mistaken killing of 4 including boy

Past turmoil in Santa Monica gunman's home

Toy gun buyback asks kids to give up play pistols

HAYWARD (AP) - Organizers of a Northern California gun buyback are looking to get weapons off the streets. But gun owners shouldn't show up looking to hand over their arms, unless they shoot rubber bands, Nerf bullets or imaginary lasers. An elementary school in Hayward is planning to hold a gun exchange Saturday, giving students a book and a chance to win a bike if they turn over their Super Soakers, Galactic Space Blasters and ...

SF sues over high-capacity magazines

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco is suing three gun accessories companies and one gun show promoter, alleging they sold disassembled high-capacity magazines disguised as repair kits in violation of California law, the city attorney said Monday. The companies and the gun show promoter were trying to circumvent a state ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines by calling them repair kits, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in the statement. But the kits can easily ...

Legislative leader: Budget deal is near

Death row inmate dies of liver disease

CORCORAN (AP) - California prison officials say a 44-year-old death row inmate convicted of beating a 90-year-old woman to death with a baseball bat has died from liver disease.

State news briefs

HUGE SHARK CAUGHT BY ANGLER OFF CALIF. WASN'T PREGNANT : LONG BEACH . (AP) - Scientists who dissected the huge mako shark caught off the Southern California coast have found that the female shark had gallons of sea water and a seal or sea lion in her stomach.

Injured dog that saved 2 girls honored

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Every dog has its day, but few canines get a motorcade on their return home. Kabang, who lost half her face after jumping in front of a motorcycle to save the lives of two girls, received a rousing welcome Monday in Zamboanga, a city in the southern Philippines. The mixed-breed came back from months-long treatment at the University of California, Davis, veterinary hospital, paid for with $27,000 in donations raised in ...

Another limo fire, 10 women escape

Threat forces LA-to-Texas flight to land in Ariz.

PHOENIX (AP) - The FBI says a "telephonic bomb threat" against a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Texas led to the plane being diverted to Phoenix on Monday afternoon. Special Agent Manuel Johnson, a spokesman for the FBI's Phoenix division, says Flight 2675 left Los Angeles International Airport at 2:12 p.m. and was heading to Austin before the threat was received by telephone. He didn't elaborate. The plane landed safely at Phoenix Sky ...

Bay Area briefs

SF PRIDE CONFIRMS MANNING WON'T BE HONORED: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Organizers of San Francisco's annual gay pride celebration have confirmed that the U.S. soldier who has acknowledged providing classified documents to WikiLeaks no longer will not be honored during this month's celebration.

Gunman killed 6 in Santa Monica

Senators upset about exchange secrecy