PG&E making emergency gas 180 segments of pipeline system checks for corrosive leaks

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Pacific Gas & Electric is checking for leaks in 180 segments of its natural gas pipeline system, including part of a line where an explosion killed eight people in 2010. PG&E said Tuesday it is conducting the emergency surveys after acknowledging it had ignored vulnerability to corrosion on the lines, in some cases for years, the San Francisco ...

What $40,000 for Obama gets you in presidential fundraising

Calif approves north coast marine protection zones

Bay Area briefs

Suspect facing murder charge in San Ramon robbery

Stockton council grants city manager authority to ready backup bankruptcy plan

STOCKTON (AP) - Stockton City Council members late Tuesday granted the city manager authority to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in three weeks if officials are unable to broker a deal with the city's creditors.

San Jose, San Diego approve pension cuts by wide margins in Tuesday’s voting

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Voters in two major California cities overwhelmingly approved measures to cut retirement benefits for city workers Tuesday in contests being closely watched as states and local governments throughout the country struggle with mounting pension obligations.

California voters split on $1 per pack tobacco tax; final tally make take days or possibly weeks

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California ballot initiative to raise the tax on cigarettes that pitted big-spending tobacco companies against cycling legend Lance Armstrong and the New York City Mayor was too close to call Tuesday night.

California voters approve term limit reform

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California voters tweaked term limits Tuesday to shave two years off the total time lawmakers can serve in the state Legislature, but will allow them to spend their tenure in one house.

Tough battles mark Congressional contests

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two long-serving Democrats headed Tuesday for a November showdown in a bitterly contested Los Angeles County House district, a marquee matchup among congressional races across California.

Candidates backed by leaders ahead in Senate

LOS ANGELES (AP) - State Senate candidates favored by the Legislature's leaders were ahead Tuesday in the two primary election contests expected to help determine whether Democrats can win a super majority in the upper chamber.

Feinstein easily advances to November ballot

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has easily won her primary election race, advancing to the November ballot. She will face GOP-endorsed autism activist Elizabeth Emken.

Romney's (non) military record faces new scrutiny from Vietnam War era

Cooler weather aids firefighters in Sequoia forest

Jury recommends death for officer killer

RIVERSIDE (AP) - A jury on Tuesday recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of killing a Riverside police officer who pulled him over while investigating a report of a hit-and-run accident involving a big rig. After several hours of deliberations, jurors made the decision in the case against 46-year-old Earl Ellis Green, who was convicted last month of first-degree murder, ...

Federal ag officials: Grapevine moth no longer in San Joaquin County

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.