School couldn't expel accused teens

SARATOGA. (AP) - A school superintendent said Wednesday that officials could not expel three teenage boys charged with sexually battering a classmate at a party last fall, even after she hanged herself and her family complained that a humiliating photo of the assault was being circulated.

Army allowed police shooter to resign

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BOY ARRESTED WITH GUN AT LODI SCHOOL: LODI - A 13-year-old boy is in juvenile hall after being found with a .22 caliber revolver and four bullets at his Lodi school Tuesday, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department.

Democrats push wide-ranging gun control bills

LA sheriff's commander disciplined over using mock Asian voice ringtone

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles County sheriff's commander has been disciplined for having a ringtone with a mock Asian voice and for comments he made after his personal cellphone rang during a meeting with top brass. The Los Angeles Times says a colleague reported that Cmdr. Paul Pietrantoni's ringtone was "The Oriental Riff" accompanied by a stereotypical Asian voice saying: ...

SHUTTLE TO DRIVE HIKERS ATOP EAST BAY PARK: PLEASANTON (AP) — A shuttle will soon drive visitors up

SHUTTLE TO DRIVE HIKERS ATOP EAST BAY PARK: PLEASANTON (AP) - A shuttle will soon drive visitors up to Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park and officials hope to expand the service across the Bay Area's largest park system.

No quick, easy fix for environmental law reform

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday it's unlikely that changes he's seeking to the state's environmental protection law can be accomplished this year, although a top Senate Democrat says he's still pursuing reforms. Brown told California reporters traveling with him in China that interest in changing the California Environmental Quality Act is stronger among groups outside the state Capitol than ...

State news briefs

INTERNAL REPORT: CPUC SAFETY CULTURE IS LAX: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A consultant's confidential report on the California Public Utilities Commission makes sharp criticisms of its executive director and finds the agency's safety culture severely lacking.

Pro athletes fight limits on workers' comp

Death row inmate dies in apparent suicide

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The death row inmate who killed guitarist Elvin Bishop's daughter and four others died of an apparent suicide, California prison officials announced Monday. Justin Alan Helzer, 41, was found dead Sunday night in his single cell at San Quentin Prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. Corrections Lt. Sam Robinson didn't disclose ...

Attorney general seeks drug database funds

Baseball hits boy, stops heart during game

ROHNERT PARK (AP) - A Northern California family is hailing a set of parents as heroes for helping to save the life of their son after he was hit in the chest during a youth baseball game, causing his heart to stop. The 8-year-old batter was hit by a pitch during a Cal Ripken Baseball game Saturday in Rhonert Park. He took ...

State activates threat review system

Health law expands treatment for addicts

SAN ...

Man killed by explosive called eccentric

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.

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.