Brown signs casino compact with tribe

ROHNERT PARK (AP) - A Native American tribe's plans for a Las Vegas-style casino about 50 miles north of San Francisco got a big boost on Friday when the governor signed a gaming compact with the tribe. The deal between the state and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria calls for a casino on 254 acres near Rohnert Park in Sonoma County. ...

Bay Area news briefs

SF considers enforcing parking meters on Sunday

State news briefs

LONG BEACH OWED $18M IN UNPAID PARKING TICKETS: LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - A councilwoman says Long Beach is owed $18 million in unpaid parking tickets.

California. lawmakers don hoodies for slain Florida teen during Capitol session

Another finalist booted from 'American Idol'

Bay Area briefs

$1.5B deal approved to electrify Caltrains SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A $1.5 billion deal has been approved to electrify Caltrain lines for eventual sharing with California bullet trains. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the two-track sharing plan. Using two tracks rather than the proposed four tracks will mean slower travel times and fewer trains. ...

Mojave Desert parents wage legal fight against local district over school reform

Rescuers free entangled gray whale off coast

Political rift appears in state compensation panel that handles legislators’ compensation

Sacramento commuter rail collision injures 5

Brown defends tax plan, says money goes to schools despite claim of backer of rival plan

Beyonce the tiny puppy fit into spoon at birth

Economists see brighter future for state economy

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California's economy should improve with its nearly 11 percent unemployment rate falling to 7.7 percent in less than two years, according to UCLA's quarterly Anderson Forecast. However, some areas won't return to pre-recession levels for four years, according to the report. California's 10.9 percent jobless rate is expected to fall to about 7.7 percent ...

Pepper-spray report can be released without names

Dennis Rodman back in court over child support

ORANGE (AP) - Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman has been told he could face up to 20 days in jail unless he pays some $860,000 in child support. His lawyer, however, says Rodman has made payments and will fight to have the contempt of court finding overturned. Rodman appeared in an Orange County court Tuesday but sentencing ...

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.

Chris Brown’s scary curbside art irks LA neighbors; city cites him for ‘signage’

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Grammy-winning musician Chris Brown's neighbors are unhappy with what some are calling frightening art he's chosen to have painted along the curb of his Hollywood Hills home.

Bay Bridge base rods can’t be easily inspected

OAKLAND (AP) - More than 400 seismic safety rods that may be vulnerable to cracking or breaking are embedded in the base of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and may be difficult to inspect, remove or replace, according to a newspaper report.

One by one, homes in subdivision sinking

LAKEPORT (AP) - Scott and Robin Spivey had a sinking feeling that something was wrong with their home when cracks began snaking across their walls in March.

Judge denies bid to block Dorner reward payout plan