State news briefs

Couple reports finding baby's body FOLSOM . (AP) - Authorities are investigating how a baby reportedly found in the backyard of a Sacramento County couple's home died. The couple has told police they returned to their Folsom home after a vacation on Sunday and found the baby. Police are not releasing its sex or race or saying whether it had been carried to ...

Man wants to farm shellfish in federal waters

LONG BEACH . (AP) - A Southern California entrepreneur already has a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provision permit to harvest a million pounds of mussels and oysters from an underwater shellfish farm nearly five miles offshore. The project, described as a milestone in aquaculture, now needs California Coastal Commission approval.

Donner Summit’s 3,000 acres of granite peaks & wildflowers becoming open space

. TRUCKEE (AP) - In what is being hailed as a major land acquisition in the Sierra Nevada, conservation groups announced Monday they had reached an agreement to purchase 3,000 acres of granite peaks and wildflower-dotted meadows atop Northern California's Donner Summit. Under an agreement reached last week with a court-appointed negotiator, three local nonprofits will buy the 3,000-acre Royal Gorge property for ...

Fire burning at N. California refinery

RICHMOND (AP) - Residents in two Northern California cities are being told to shelter-in-place because of a fire at a Chevron refinery in Richmond. An official with the Contra Costa County Health Services says the fire, first reported at 6:40 p.m. Monday, is burning in a process unit at the facility. It is emitting black smoke over the cities of Richmond and ...

Man sentenced to prison for kidnapping son

Ex-WaMu exec gets OK as Brown's banking regulator

Can lawmakers be trusted with money?

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The Legislature resumes its session this week after a monthlong summer recess, giving the Democratic majority one last chance to persuade voters that a statewide tax increase is needed and that lawmakers can be trusted to handle the extra money wisely.

Elite colleges transform online higher education with free, worldwide reach

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offered its first free online course this spring, Ashwith Rego jumped at the chance to learn from some of the world's leading researchers - without leaving his home in India.

Red flag warnings have firefighters on high alert thanks to dry Sierra lightning

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Forecasters predicted another day of thunderstorms producing lightning but dropping little rain, which put firefighters in California on high alert again Sunday as crews lost ground on an expanding wildfire in the Plumas National Forest.

Bill seeks to tighten assault weapons law

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Legislation that has the backing of California's attorney general would close a loophole in the nation's toughest assault weapons law, making it more difficult for guns to be swiftly reloaded with high-capacity magazines.

Officer who revealed corruption gets job back

BELL (AP) - A police sergeant from the city of Bell who was forced to retire after reporting corruption in local government has been given his job back, along with a $400,000 settlement.

Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Internal documents from the Boy Scouts of America reveal more than 125 cases in which men suspected of molestation allegedly continued to abuse Scouts, despite a blacklist meant to protect boys from sexual predators.

State news briefs

• SUV plummets from SD mall parking garage : SAN DIEGO (AP) - A woman was injured when an SUV crashed through a barrier and plummeted three stories from a parking structure at a San Diego County mall, landing on its roof onto two parked cars.

Yosemite’s lost valley will be subject of vote in San Francsico

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (AP) - This fall San Franciscans will vote on a local measure with national implications: It could return to the American people a flooded gorge described as the twin of breathtaking Yosemite Valley.

Lightning storms this weekend raise Sierra Nevada fire danger

SONORA, Calif. (AP) - A series of dry lightning storms could spark wildfires throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains this weekend, officials warned Friday. The National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch starting Saturday for the parched mountains between the Sonora Pass and the Oregon border. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the agency ...

Nevada high school choir will back Rolling Stones at concert

Acting Oakland chief replaced after 2 days

4 pit bulls blamed for SoCal jogger's killing

State. moves to comply with 2011 gay history law

Bold turkey: woman hits cop in bid to kick smoking habit

Compton teen convicted in killing mom, stepfather

Judge: No auction yet of Kobe Bryant's stuff

State news briefs

DRIVER REACHING FOR DRINK HITS WOMAN, 3 CHILDREN: SAN DIEGO (AP) - Authorities say an unlicensed driver reaching for a spilled drink ran onto a sidewalk in San Diego and struck a mother and three children.

Deadly America's Cup boat mishap

Oil industry: BLM prevents job creation

Small quake shakes west side of LA

State news briefs

LATER, DAWG: RANDY JACKSON LEAVING 'AMERICAN IDOL' : LOS ANGELES (AP) - Randy Jackson out.

District rejects school drug sting claim

Assembly OKs transgender student accommodations

Bay Area briefs

HUMAN HEAD FOUND AMONG RECYCLING DEBRIS: OAKLAND (AP) - A human head has been found in a load of recycling debris at a facility in Oakland.