$320M Medi-Cal settlement reached with HMO

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California and federal officials have announced a $320 million settlement over allegations a Long Beach-based health plan received overpayments from Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program. U.S. attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek says SCAN Health Plan, a health maintenance organization, submitted payments on Aug. 10 to state and federal authorities to resolve an investigation. The settlement is the largest obtained ...

Environmental reforms quashed for the year

Police: Rodney King death ruled accidental

California news briefs

SENATE OKS CALIF. ELECTION DAY VOTER SIGN-UP : SACRAMENTO (AP) - Californians could register to vote any time, including on Election Day, under a bill approved by the state Senate.

Bill would require coaches to report child abuse

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The state Senate unanimously passed a bill adding coaches and administrators in K-12 schools to the list of California workers who are required to report suspected child abuse to authorities, legislation that arose in the wake of the Penn State sex abuse case. Democratic Sen. Ron Calderon of Monterey Park says coaches are in a position of trust and ...

State news briefs

AGENTS BUST 3 MEN FOR SELLING DRUGS AT TACO TRUCK

South state high school senior dress-up day deemed offensive to Hispanics

ANAHEIM (AP) - A Southern California high school canceled an annual dress-up day for seniors, saying that students who dressed as gang members, a U.S. Border Patrol agent and a pregnant woman pushing a stroller demeaned Latinos. The June "Seniores and Senoritas" day at Canyon High School in Anaheim prompted complaints by two former students and an investigation by the Orange Unified ...

NOAA wants to expand sanctuary outside Golden Gate

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal officials are proposing a plan to expand the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary to include the busy waters just west of the Golden Gate Bridge. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's plan would enlarge what is already the biggest ocean refuge in the continental United States. Federal officials plan to discuss the idea at a meeting in ...

Denham, other SJ Valley congress members ask USDA to reopen plant

Fire near Redding destroys 84 buildings

Jury awards man $425K for false arrest

FRESNO (AP) - A federal jury has awarded a California man $425,000 who claimed he was wrongfully jailed by Fresno County authorities for violating his probation. The Fresno Bee reports jurors reached its verdict following a four-day trial in U.S. District Court and awarded James Quinn of Clovis, who said his civil rights were violated after his arrest in 2007 for allegedly ...

State will audit Calif. mental health spending

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - The state auditor will review some of California's mental health spending to determine whether money from a 2004 ballot initiative is being spent the way voters intended. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee unanimously approved the eight-month study Thursday. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat who co-authored Proposition 63, requested the audit. ...

Lawmakers exchange barbs over abortion bill over study of nurse practitioners’ role

No charges for San Diego man, 88, suspected of aiding suicide of sick wife

SAN DIEGO (AP) - An 88-year-old man who was arrested shortly after the death of his wife on suspicion of aiding in her suicide won't be charged with any crime, San Diego County prosecutors decided Wednesday.

State news briefs

DEVELOPER PROPOSES MASSIVE THEME PARK IN TRACY: TRACY (AP) - A developer is proposing to build a $1.2 billion entertainment hub in Tracy that would be four times bigger than Disneyland. City officials gave James Rogers and Spirit of California LLC the exclusive right to negotiate for 628 acres north of Tracy. <p style="line-height: 18pt; ...

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.

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.