Agency opens online front in water wars

SAN DIEGO (AP) - California's water wars have long been waged in courtrooms, but shots are ...

State news briefs

SALES OF KINKADE ARTWORK SURGE AFTER PAINTER DIES: PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Galleries that sell the work of Thomas Kinkade are reporting a surge in sales following the popular painter's death at age 54. Outlets across the country say they're calling in extra help to handle unprecedented demand from customers placing orders in person, on ...

Rushed bills compromise disclosure

Shooters of Calif. dad who saved son are sought

Prosecutors detain teen to solidify rape case

Pet lovers face deadline on license plate sales

Bicyclists protest coastal highway rumble strips

SANTA CRUZ (AP) - Bicyclists are unhappy over plans to gouge vibration-inducing safety strips into a 10-mile stretch of scene California coastal highway. The California Department of Transportation says the Highway 1 rumble strips between Santa Cruz and Davenport are designed to reduce deadly road crashes plaguing the area. There have been 10 fatalities along that stretch of ...

Bay Area briefs

Bicyclists protest coastal highway rumble strips

State News Briefs

COAST GUARD SAYS 2 MEN, BOY OK AFTER NIGHT AT SEA: BODEGA BAY (AP) - The Coast Guard says two men and a seven-year-old boy are OK after they spent a cold night at sea on a disabled small boat.

Wife of congressman runs for Calif. Assembly seat

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A tense political drama is unfolding in the Santa Clarita Valley, where the 69-year-old wife of Republican Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon has decided to seek political office herself. Her main rival in the June state Assembly primary is a former staffer to her husband.

Tanker fire shuts down parts of LA freeways

GLENDALE (AP) - The driver of a car that slammed into the rear of a gasoline tanker that burst into flames was arrested Sunday on suspicion of drunken driving, and westbound lanes of the 134 Freeway remained closed more than 12 hours after the fiery collision.

Police check cell records in fatal Concord crash

CONCORD (AP) - Cellphone records were being checked as investigators try to determine whether talking on a phone may have contributed to a crash that killed a 41-year-old Concord man and his 9-year-old daughter as they rode their bicycles on a sidewalk along Concord's busy Treat Boulevard, police said Sunday.

Cost to pack state park artifacts will cut into savings from park closures

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Shuttering dozens of California state parks to trim millions from the state budget will take more than simply hanging a "Closed" sign on trailheads and beach parking lots. Many on the closure list house thousands of historical treasures that must be packed up, catalogued and stored if deals are not reached to save them.

Major debates await lawmakers including high speed rail bonds

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Lawmakers will return from their spring recess on Monday to face fast-approaching deadlines for several critical decisions, including whether to make deeper cuts to social welfare programs, reform the public employee pension system and approve borrowing for a high-speed rail system.

LA’s desire is for return of street cars to downtown area

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Half a century after the last of the lost Pacific Electric Red Cars rumbled through Los Angeles, a move has begun to return streetcars to downtown LA.

Mogul to pay $2.5M Big Sur settlement

Bay Area briefs

SFMOMA CLOSES DOORS FOR EXPANSION: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has closed its doors, as it undergoes a major expansion.

Bills to halt fracking fail to garner support

Winds aid crews by turning back fire

SANTA CLARITA (AP) - For a change, winds helped crews working to contain a wildfire burning Friday in rugged mountains north of Los Angeles. A day earlier, gusts had driven flames toward the rural community of Green Valley and forced people from about 200 homes. On Friday, winds were pushing the fire southward - back into the 2 1/3 square miles that have already burned. "The fire is moving uphill and burning into the black," ...

Bay Area briefs

EX-PG&E WORKER CLAIMS UTILITY MISLED REGULATORS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A former PG&E manager has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was fired for refusing to participate in the utility's plan to mislead regulators into approving rate increases.

Boy dies after signs of abuse were missed

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An 8-year-old boy who authorities say died after being beaten had remained in the house where the alleged abuse occurred despite six investigations by social workers during the past decade, a newspaper said. Social workers appeared to miss numerous warnings signs at the home, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday, citing county documents. The boy had written a note saying he was thinking about suicide and his teacher told authorities he ...

High-speed rail: Broken promise?

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