State news briefs

ABOUT 1,000 ACRES BURNED IN SEQUOIA FIRE: SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST (AP) - Afternoon winds are being blamed for helping a wildfire burning in a remote area of the Sequoia National Forest nearly double in size.

Voters turn against California bullet train

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A new poll finds California voters are experiencing buyers' remorse over a proposed $68 billion bullet train project, as the number of lawsuits against the rail system grows.

State news briefs

STUDENTS PROTEST ADMISSIONS POLICIES AT UCLA: LOS ANGELES (AP) - About two dozen demonstrators are occupying the admissions office at the University of California, Los Angeles to protest the number of black, Latino and native American students admitted.

Burning rocks had elevated phosphate levels

SAN CLEMENTE (AP) - Additional testing has confirmed beach rocks that spontaneously combusted in a Southern California woman's pocket contained elevated levels of phosphorus, an official said Friday. The source of the substance is still unclear, but an expert says it probably was manmade. Results from an independent lab matched those obtained by the Orange County Public Health ...

Alameda avoids legal woes, allows gun shows with tight rules on county property

Sacramento deputies face charges of selling dozens of weapons illegally

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Family: Rollover survivor found alive is alert

SAN JOSE (AP) - Loved ones said this week that they are delighted that a Northern California motorist found unconscious is alive and awake after spending a week in the woods when his truck overturned near a busy freeway. Michael Sanchez Jr. is increasingly alert but he still can't talk, his sister Priscilla Sanchez told the San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/KEbQtg) on ...

Energy rules increasing cost of new Central Valley housing

It’s Big Tobacco vs Lance Armstrong

Bay Area briefs

City college may close some campuses SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Budget woes may force San Francisco City College to close or combine some of its campuses. City College, one of the nation's largest community colleges with 90,000 full- and part-time students, is facing a $14 million budget shortfall. The college has a $200 million operating budget. Board of Trustees ...

State news briefs

STOCKTON OFFICIAL SEEKS BANKRUPTCY AUTHORITY: STOCKTON (AP) - Stockton's city manager is requesting the authority to declare bankruptcy if the city is unable to reach a deal with its creditors by next month.

California approves new energy efficiency rules for homes, businesses starting in 2014

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California officials on Thursday approved energy efficiency standards for new homes and commercial buildings that officials are describing as the toughest in the nation. Members of the California Energy Commission voted unanimously in favor of amended standards that will require improved windows, more efficient air conditioning and lighting systems, and other features intended to reduce energy consumption. <p ...

Panel cuts pay of governor, lawmakers

At the State Capitol

BILL WOULD END CAR IMPOUNDS FOR UNLICENSED DRIVERS: Illegal immigrants will no longer have to fear losing their vehicles during routine traffic stops if a bill passed by the Assembly becomes law.

California voters not hot for legalizing pot

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Legalizing marijuana is gaining traction in many places but apparently not in California, the state where the idea first took root. Half of California voters surveyed say they oppose broad legalization, while 46 support it, according to a University of Southern California Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll released Thursday. The survey found opinions have not measurably changed since 2010, ...

Bay Area news briefs

LIVERMORE LAB JURY AWARDS $2.7 MILLION: OAKLAND (AP) - A jury has awarded more than $2.7 million to five former Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory workers in an ongoing wrongful-termination case.

State news briefs

LA schools consider banning defiance suspensions

Dad wants evidence in girl's stabbing

State Senate OKs ski safety legislation

Bay Area briefs

FEDS TO PROBE REPAIR WORK ON BAD BAY BRIDGE RODS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Federal Highway Administration on Monday said it is investigating the state's response to broken steel seismic safety rods on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

State news briefs

15 OF 23 CAL STATE CAMPUSES CHARGE GRADUATION FEES: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Graduating students at more than a dozen California public universities will have to hand over money before they are handed their diplomas, a newspaper reported.

End near for evangelical radio network?

Girl , 7, escapes kidnapper's car trunk in Sacramento

Ginsburg: Roe gave abortion opponents a target

CHICAGO (AP) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she supports a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, but feels her predecessors' landmark Roe v. Wade ruling 40 years ago was too sweeping and gave abortion opponents a symbol to target.

Person of interest named in jogger killed by pit bull pack

PALMDALE . (AP) - Sheriff's authorities said a man who was arrested this week on suspicion of growing marijuana is now a "person of interest" in the death of a 63-year-old jogger who was mauled to death by a pack of pit bulls in the Mojave Desert.

Los Angeles, Paris project aims to track big city carbon footprints

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Every time Los Angeles exhales, odd-looking gadgets anchored in the mountains above the city trace the invisible puffs of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that waft skyward.

Relentless thief still taking Tahoe crawfish traps - 160 stolen so far

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) - It's not that easy to catch crawfish in Lake Tahoe. Turns out, it may be harder to keep them.

Black student targeted with racist note

IRVINE (AP) - University of California, Irvine officials pledged to work on race relations on campus this week after a black student found a hand-scrawled note in her backpack calling her a slave, making it the second racist incident that has offended black students in recent weeks.

Mom: Accused boy, 12, ‘could never’ hurt sister

VALLEY SPRINGS (AP) - A day before a 12-year-old boy was arrested for the stabbing death of his 8-year-old sister, his mother described him as "protective" of his younger sibling.

State lawmakers debate how to spend $900M in new revenue from loophole

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California schools are expecting a boost from the $900 million to be raised over the next year through the closure of a corporate tax loophole, but Gov. Jerry Brown is locked in a disagreement with state lawmakers over how to hand out that money.