State news briefs

JUDGE ALLOWS SAN DIEGO PENSION OVERHAUL TO PROCEED: SAN DIEGO (AP) - A judge will allow a closely-watched measure to curb pensions for San Diego city workers to take effect. San Diego Superior Court Judge Luis Vargas on Tuesday denied a request by California's Public Employee Relations Board to put the plan on hold. The judge noted that San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved it last month. ...

Gay marriage ban backers seek review by US Supreme Court of Proposition 8

Crews battle 2 fires in Plumas National Forest

QUINCY (AP) - Nearly 900 firefighters are battling separate blazes burning in rugged terrain in Plumas National Forest, including one fire that is threatening four trailer homes. The larger of the two wildfires has consumed about 780 acres, or a little more than a square mile. That fire, called the Peak Fire, is a remote area of forest and is not threatening ...

Apple claims Samsung copied iPhone technology

Bay Area briefs

Mother sues police over son's accidental shooting

Lawmakers seek audit of mental health spending

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Two lawmakers say the state needs to change how mental health funding from a 2004 ballot initiative is spent to ensure the money serves those who need it most.

Lawmakers seek audit of mental health spending

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Two lawmakers say the state needs to change how mental health funding from a 2004 ballot initiative is spent to ensure the money serves those who need it most.

Struggling California cities looking to tax hikes

STANTON (AP) - There's a new twist emerging as some of California's most financially troubled cities look for ways out of their predicaments: They're declaring fiscal emergencies so they can quickly get tax hike initiatives on local November ballots.

Weakness exposed in electricity trading

FOLSOM (AP) - A big electricity trader may have figured out a way to exploit vulnerabilities in the state's $8 billion-a-year electricity market, just as Enron Corp. did a decade ago, state officials said.

Orange County city says Obama campaign hasn't paid its bill for February protection

NEWPORT BEACH . (AP) - Newport Beach may call the bill collectors on President Obama's re-election campaign.

No mechanical issues in Superman roller coaster stall at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

VALLEJO (AP) - Mechanical problems were not to blame for the stalling of a roller coaster carrying a dozen people at a Northern California theme park while the coaster was about 150 feet above the ground, park officials said Monday.

State news briefs

MAN ATTEMPTS TO SMUGGLE METH AS CANDY: LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California man faces federal drug charges for allegedly trying to smuggle more than four pounds of methamphetamine to Japan in what looked like dozens of Snickers bars.

Newest California city may fold after state hijacks half of its revenue

JURUPA VALLEY (AP) - California's newest city could be broke in a year because the state has taken away nearly half its budget.

Marketing aids Catholic schools enrollment

LOS ANGELES (AP) - After 97 years, Our Lady of Lourdes School was closing - enrollment had dwindled to just 35 children last year at what was once one of the West Coast's biggest Catholic schools.

Hundreds decrying police violence during march

ANAHEIM (AP) - More than 300 demonstrators rallied Sunday to denounce two fatal police shootings and to issue a call for community peace.

Bay Area briefs

BILL WOULD CHARGE 911 FEES ON PREPAID CELLPHONES: SACRAMENTO (AP) - Californians who use prepaid cellphones would pay a little more to add minutes under a bill moving through the Legislature.

State news briefs

SF BAGGAGE HANDLER PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO THEFT: REDWOOD CITY (AP) - A San Francisco International Airport baggage handler accused of stealing items from passengers' bags has pleaded not guilty.

Her challenge is to keep Brown focused

CPUC legal team probing PG&E blast resigns

SF, NY officials to meet over cellphone thefts

State news briefs

TACO BELL FIRING RIDGECREST EMPLOYEE FOR TACO LICKING: RIDGECREST. (AP) - Taco Bell is firing a California employee who was photographed licking a stack of taco shells.

Parole denied for Manson follower

CPUC enforcement division” ‘Time to throw book at PG&E’

Bay Area briefs

FORMER SANTA CLARA POLITICIAN FACING NEW CHARGE : SAN JOSE (AP) - A longtime California politician convicted of using campaign donations and taxpayer funds to fuel what he described as a gambling addiction has been charged in a separate case involving an illegal campaign flier, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Serial murder suspect interviews possible jurors

SAN RAFAEL (AP) - Addressing prospective jurors in his death penalty trial, defendant Joseph Naso on Monday mocked the prosecutor and asked odd questions. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the 79-year-old Naso, acting as his own lawyer, addressed a panel of 21 possible jurors in a selection process expected to take weeks. Naso flailed his hands, saying he was mimicking gestures made by Marin County prosecutor Rosemary Slote during her presentation. One female prospective ...

State news briefs

EX-UCI PROFESSOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN OC ARSONS: SANTA ANA (AP) - A former University of California, Irvine professor has pleaded not guilty to charges he set a series of fires at his son's high school and elsewhere after the boy committed suicide.

Humanists sue over monument with cross

Serial murder suspect interviews possible jurors

SAN RAFAEL (AP) - Addressing prospective jurors in his death penalty trial, defendant Joseph Naso on Monday mocked the prosecutor and asked odd questions. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the 79-year-old Naso, acting as his own lawyer, addressed a panel of 21 possible jurors in a selection process expected to take weeks. Naso flailed his hands, saying he was mimicking gestures made by Marin County prosecutor Rosemary Slote during her presentation. One female prospective ...

Firing of ex-LAPD officer Dorner justified

le poised for hiring spree in Silicon Valley

App