State park groups fret over secret fund debacle as they try to keep 70 parks open

Fingerprint expert shortage causes LA backlog

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Detectives investigating burglaries, auto thefts and other property-related crimes in Los Angeles have been forced to wait an average two to three months to get fingerprints analyzed because of an employee shortage at the Police Department's Latent Print Unit. The backlog of 2,200 cases means fingerprint analysis in some active criminal investigations is being delayed more than a ...

Bay Area briefs

Oakland ends 82-year-old ban on dance marathons

21 burned in walk over hot coals at Robbins’ motivational event

SAN JOSE (AP) - Fire officials said 21 people at an event hosted by motivational speaker Tony Robbins suffered burns while walking across hot coals and three of the injured were treated at hospitals.

Vallejo: Mixed picture after bankruptcy

VALLEJO (AP) - Cobblestones show through the decrepit pavement in Sheila Dodson's downtown neighborhood, prostitutes ply the sidewalks in broad daylight and many of the century-old Victorians stand empty. Yet this is where Dodson wants to raise her family.

Surgeons banned from human research after failing to secure UC Davis permission

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Two University of California, Davis neurosurgeons have been banned from performing medical research on humans after they were accused of experimenting on dying brain cancer patients without university permission, the Sacramento Bee reported Sunday.

Santa Monica trailer park community threatened by upscale growth plan

SANTA MONICA (AP) - Sandwiched between a brake shop, gritty industrial buildings and a few modest storefronts is a little neighborhood that time has seemingly forgotten.

Marines create law enforcement battalions

CAMP PENDLETON (AP) - The Marine Corps has created its first law enforcement battalions - a lean, specialized force of military police officers that it hopes can quickly deploy worldwide to help investigate crimes from terrorism to drug trafficking and train fledgling security forces in allied nations.

State news briefs

• HAYASHI TO RUN FOR VACANT ALAMEDA COUNTY SEAT: SAN JOSE (AP) - California Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi says she's planning to run for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Nadia Lockyer.

It could one day cost Bay Area vehicle owners a dime a mile in taxes to drive

OAKLAND (AP) - San Francisco Bay area officials will study a proposal to charge motorists a tax on every mile they drive in the nine-county region as a way to raise money for roads and public transit while reducing traffic and pollution from car emissions. Members of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments approved going forward with ...

California parks director resigns amid scandal; department sat on $54 million

Lawmakers hand out pay raises amid cuts

LA drivers told to prepare for 'Carmageddon II'

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Remember "Carmageddon"? Get ready for the sequel. Southern California drivers were urged Thursday to stay off the roads when a 10-mile section of busy Interstate 405 is closed this fall. Crews will finish tearing down a bridge in the Sepulveda Pass, which links West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley and carries nearly ...

State news briefs

3 CHARGED IN OAKLAND SHOOTING THAT KILLED INFANT: OAKLAND (AP) - Three members of an infamous Oakland street gang are facing charges for their alleged roles in a shooting during the filming of rap video that left a toddler dead, authorities said Friday.

Homeless loners run risks as LA stabber lurks

State senator gets subpoena in federal probe at Capitol

Utility to close troubled nuclear plant

Serial killer Richard Ramirez dies

Raley’s website possible cyberattack target

WEST SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Northern California supermarket chain is advising customers who used their credit or debit cards at any of its stores to check their statements, saying its computer network may have been the target of a cyberattack. Raley's said on Thursday it has launched an investigation, and has so far not found any unauthorized access to payment card data. West Sacramento-based Raley's has 128 stores in Northern California and northern Nevada that ...

Eleven life insurers to pay $763M over unpaid benefits

Bay Area briefs

APPLE'S NEW HQ COULD WORSEN AREA TRAFFIC: CUPERTINO . (AP) - An environmental review has found that Apple Inc.'s new headquarters will have significant traffic impacts along a nearby freeway and roads.

State news briefs

DISNEY CRACKING DOWN ON DISABLED TOUR GUIDES: ANAHEIM (AP) - Disneyland Resort is cracking down on disabled guests who sell their right to go to the front of the line on rides.

Obama sees 'glimmers of functionality' in DC during fundraiser in Palo Alto

Berries blamed for man's Hepatitis A

Teacher charged with distributing child porn

$985M bullet train contract awarded

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Norcal News

DA ASSIGNS PROSECUTOR TO 1991 FIRE DEATH: MURPHYS (AP) - A California district attorney says she has appointed a prosecutor with experience in arson investigations to the case of a New York man charged with killing his son and now under investigation in the fire death of his wife more than two decades ago.

PUC lawyer says why he resigned from PG&E probe

SAN FRANCICSO (AP) - A lead attorney probing a deadly pipeline explosion for state regulators says he quit the investigation because he disagreed with managers handling of the case. Attorney Robert Cagan called the California Public Utilities Commission's recommended punishment for the responsible utility "unlawful." KQED quoted an email Cagan sent the radio station Thursday. Cagan and three other lawyers who also quit the investigation were the commission's main experts on the 2010 explosion that ...

Latinos stuck in poverty amid bounty of San Joaquin Valley

FBI started asking about state lawmaker back in 2005