State news briefs

PARENTS FIGHT AT LA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: LOS ANGELES (AP) - Parents were recently caught brawling at a Los Angeles ceremony marking the end of preschool for their children.

LA County courts begin downsizing

Bay Area briefs

Fire near BART station suspicious AC OAKLAND (AP) - Authorities are trying to determine whether a fire near a Bay Area Rapid Transit station that shut down train service between San Francisco and Oakland was intentionally set. Investigators are looking for three young men who were seen moments before the fire at a low-income senior building under construction began early Thursday. A security ...

State news briefs

MAN FILES SUIT AGAINST TV NETWORK, BRISTOL PALIN: LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles man is suing the Lifetime Network and Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, claiming he was taped heckling her for a planned reality show without his knowledge or consent.

Armed robbers can’t get out of store as doors wouldn’t open, surrender to police

INGLEWOOD (AP) - Police on Thursday detained three men after a bungled robbery at a Southern California clothing store where both the suspected robbers and at least eight employees had trouble getting out of the building. Three men entered the Burlington Coat Factory building about 7:30 a.m. and at least one was armed, police said. The store hadn't opened yet and when ...

California home sales, prices jump in May

Dispute over $1.2B in CalWORKS puts Democrats at odds with Brown

Fraud alleged at acclaimed Oakland charter schools that has some of state’s highest scores

OAKLAND (AP) - A nationally recognized charter school organization in California could face a criminal investigation after a state audit found evidence of financial fraud, conflicts of interest and other illegal activities. The report released Wednesday detailed allegations of unscrupulous activity at Oakland-based American Indian Model Schools, which operates three public schools whose standardized test scores are among the state's highest. <p ...

Lawmaker calls proposed legislation catch and release for drunk drivers

Bicyclist to be charged in death of SF pedestrian

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - San Francisco prosecutors plan to charge a bicyclist who fatally struck a 71-year-old man in a San Francisco crosswalk with felony vehicular manslaughter. District Attorney George Gascon said Thursday his office plans to file the charge against Chris Bucchere early next week. Bucchere, 36, is expected to turn himself in in the next few ...

Bay Area briefs

POLICE SAY COUPLE KILLED SUSPECTED PIMP SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A San Francisco couple faces murder charges for allegedly killing a man last week they suspected of pimping their teenage daughter. Barry Gilton and his girlfriend Lupe Mercado appeared in court Wednesday on murder and other charges for the shooting death of 22-year-old Calvin Sneed. Both are being held on $2 million bail. ...

NASA launches telescope to seek out black holes

Lake detected near equator of Saturn's Titan

Former 'Goodfellas' gangster Henry Hill dies in Los Angeles

Daughter's alleged Mother's Day attack recounted

DENAIR (AP) - A judge heard grisly details of blood-splattered walls and a mother's cries during a preliminary hearing for an 18-year-old Northern California woman accused of attacking her parents last year on Mother's Day. Susan Wills testified Tuesday that her daughter Shanna Will had been acting strangely for a week leading up to the assault, claiming she was the "Messiah." <p ...

State news briefs

LAST 2 MEN PULLED FROM LEVEECRASH ID'D: STOCKTON (AP) - Authorities have released the names of two more victims pulled from a Northern California waterway where an SUV crashed and killed five men.

Insurers sue over LA school abuse settlement

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Seven insurers have sued the Los Angeles school district to avoid paying a $30 million settlement to 58 alleged victims of child abuse at an elementary school. The insurers claim there was no relevant coverage under the policies, but the district said its general liability insurance should cover the costs, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday. Sean Rossall, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Unified School District, called the move ...

Salmon experiment puts fish in river water

SACRAMENTO . (AP) - State fish and wildlife officials are studying a new way of transporting hatchery salmon that are intended to repopulate the Sacramento River system, a newspaper reported. About 100,000 Chinook salmon have been taken to San Francisco Bay, where they were released, in water actually from the Sacramento River, The San Mateo County Times reported this week. The theory being tested is that the fish will develop a memory of the water's ...

Capital News

ASSEMBLY BILL TO REGULATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA FAILS: SACRAMENTO (AP) - A bill to regulate the sale of medical marijuana in California has failed in the Assembly.

3 men held in alleged pot mail ring; allegedly sent 20 pounds at a time

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Three San Diego men have been arrested on suspicion of running a drug trafficking ring that mailed up to 20 pounds of marijuana to dozens of customers in at least eight states, authorities said. Chris Gillen, his brother, Kyle Gillen, and Matthew Schneider were arrested earlier this week at their homes and remain behind bars on $200,000 bail each. The bust crippled a drug distribution ring where vacuum sealed parcels were ...

State agency failed to collect $185M in pollution cleanup fees

Bay Area briefs

OAKLAND POLICE SHOOT, KILL SUSPECT: OAKLAND AP) - An Oakland police officer is on paid administrative leave after shooting and killing a suspect following a foot chase.

Assembly passes bill to raise minimum wage

State Senate sacks plan to ban plastic bags

Five bodies pulled from Delta waterway after crash of SUV

STOCKTON (AP) - Authorities investigating a deadly weekend SUV crash in a waterway in Northern California are being hampered by an uncooperative 911 caller and conflicting accounts from family members, a California Highway Patrol officer said on Thursday. Investigators believe they have now recovered the bodies of all five crash victims from the slough west of Stockton after two men were pulled out on Wednesday, Officer James Smith said. The men have not been identified, ...

State news briefs

ROSEVILLE MOM PLEADS NO CONTEST IN DAUGHTER DEATH: ROSEVILLE (AP) - A Northern California woman has pleaded no contest in the death of her 2-year-old daughter last year.

Capital News

AGENCY: REALIGNMENT LAW UNDERMINES ROLE OF JUDGES: SACRAMENTO (AP) - A state oversight agency says overcrowding in many county jails is forcing local sheriffs to assume the role traditionally held by judges in deciding who should make bail and how long convicts should serve behind bars.

Murder charged in dog pack mauling death

Officials to update repair work on Bay Bridge

OAKLAND (AP) - The new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge had another bolt problem involving the bicycle path, but it has since been fixed, a state transportation official said on Wednesday. Numerous bolts used to anchor the railing along the path failed because of improper welding, officials said. But Bay Bridge spokesman Andrew Gordon said the all the bolts that failed have been replaced. The news comes as officials overseeing construction of ...

Arrest made in Disneyland dry-ice blast

ANAHEIM. (AP) - Police arrested a Disneyland employee on suspicion of putting a so-called dry ice bomb in a theme park trash can where it exploded, authorities said Wednesday. No one was injured in the small blast, but Disneyland briefly evacuated the Mickey's Toontown section where the incident occurred Tuesday. The trash can did not blow up. Christian Barnes, 22, of Long Beach was arrested for investigation of possessing a destructive device, just hours after ...