Beam them up: Ashes of 'Star Trek' actor in orbit

Calif. pension fund to vote against Wal-Mart board

SACRAMENTO (AP) - One of the nation's largest pension funds says it will vote its 5.3 million shares against all of Wal-Mart's board nominees - including the company's current and former CEOs - at the retailer's annual meeting next week. The California State Teachers' Retirement System, known as CalSTERS, said Tuesday that it has lost faith in the board's independence amid allegations ...

Couple convicted in trashed home case

RIVERSIDE (AP) - A former San Diego police officer and his wife have been found guilty of trashing their foreclosed home in Riverside County. A jury convicted Robert Acosta on Monday of stealing fixtures valued at greater than $65,000 when he and his wife moved out of their foreclosed home in 2010. Monique Acosta was found guilty of the same charge on ...

Prolonged Facebook slide could hurt California budget

Brown seeks business support for tax-hike plan on November ballot

State news briefs

WOMAN, 3 CHILDREN HIT BY CAR IN CROSSWALK: THOUSAND OAKS (AP) - Police say a woman and three children walking in a Thousand Oaks crosswalk were hit by a vehicle and injured, but a baby in a stroller escaped harm.

Silicon Valley tech exec accused of Lego thefts; faces up to five years in prison

SAN JOSE (AP) - A Silicon Valley software executive put fake bar codes on Lego sets at various Target stores, bought the toys at a steep discount, then sold them online for thousands of dollars, authorities said. Thomas Langenbach, 47, appeared in court Tuesday on four felony counts of burglary that could net him up to five years in prison if convicted. ...

Bay Area briefs

Sheriff: Suspect linked by DNA to missing teen

Does school ordering parents to buy iPads for 4th, 5th graders violate state constitution?

POWAY (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging a San Diego County school's project to equip fourth- and fifth-graders with iPads - at parents' expense. ACLU lawyer David Loy has complained to Poway Unified School District, saying Tierra Bonita Elementary School's request that 90 percent of parents buy, rent or lease a $483 iPad and accessories veers close to violating ...

Lawmakers trade insults debating airport gun bill

Senate bill would cap Cal State pay increases

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California State University employees who make more than $200,000 annually would have their salaries capped under a bill approved by the state Senate. The measure would place a two-year moratorium on any pay raises for those employees, ending in July 2014. SB952 also would cap pay raises for those same employees at no ...

Golden Gate celebrates 75th with help of engineers

State news briefs

MAN SENTENCED IN NATIONAL FOREST POT GROW: FRESNO (AP) - A Mexican national has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison in connection with a marijuana growing operation in Sequoia National Forest.

Report: LA rail line woes could cause derailments

LOS ANGELES (AP) - California officials say the recently opened light rail line that connects downtown Los Angeles with the city's west side must be reinspected because a key section contains a serious design flaw that could cause trains to derail, the Los Angeles Times reported. The section in question is a downtown junction that links the Expo Line, which carries passengers ...

Senate votes to ban bear, bobcat hunting with dogs; GOP calls it an attack on rural California

Small quake shakes west side of LA

State news briefs

LATER, DAWG: RANDY JACKSON LEAVING 'AMERICAN IDOL' : LOS ANGELES (AP) - Randy Jackson out.

District rejects school drug sting claim

Assembly OKs transgender student accommodations

Bay Area briefs

HUMAN HEAD FOUND AMONG RECYCLING DEBRIS: OAKLAND (AP) - A human head has been found in a load of recycling debris at a facility in Oakland.

State news briefs

MAN CHARGED IN BEATING OF SIKH ELDER IN FRESNO: FRESNO (AP) - A Central California man is facing charges of attempted murder and elder abuse in connection with the beating of an 82-year-old Sikh man outside a Sikh temple in Fresno.

SF drops fight for radiation warning law

Bridge repair could cost $10M

209 News

290 POUNDS OF METH SEIZED IN CERES: CERES (AP) - Officials with a Central California drug task force say they've seized hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine in a raid of a San Joaquin Valley home.

Lives on edge part of Golden Gate beat

Move to change 'rainy day' measure

Bay Area briefs

OAKLAND POLICE CHIEF STEPPING DOWN: OAKLAND (AP) - The chief of Oakland's embattled police department said Wednesday that he is stepping down due to medical reasons.

BLM postpones oil, gas lease auctions

Bay Area briefs

TESTS ON BAY BRIDGE BOLTS SO FAR SHOW NO FAILURE: OAKLAND AP) - After dozens of seismic safety bolts on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge broke, tests on remaining bolts have so far shown no sign of failure.

San Jose to pay $150k for use of phony lab report