Groundbreaking improv comic Jonathan Winters dies

Lead bidder ranked for $1B bullet-train deal

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California-based construction group Friday emerged as the top contender for the first contract that will be awarded to build California's high-speed rail line. The state High-Speed Rail Authority announced that joint venture Tutor Perini/Zachry/Parsons topped a field of five rivals in a ranking of competing bids to build the initial link from Madera to Fresno. <p style="line-height: ...

State news briefs

TEMECULA STUDENTS DISCIPLINED FOR VANDALISM: TEMECULA (AP) - Seventeen Temecula Valley High School students are being punished this week for vandalism that included racist graffiti, a dismembered squirrel, glued lockers and a bleached sports field.

Contempt threat against Brown is a rare move

209 News

PIT BULL KILLS WOMAN IN YARD OF STOCKTON HOME: STOCKTON (AP) - A 38-year-old woman in Stockton has become the latest person to be mauled to death by a pit bull.

3 teens charged with assault; girl killed herself

Brown praises & rides Chinese for bullet train

BEIJING (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown got a firsthand look on Thursday at the world's most extensive high-speed rail system and praised the initiative that created the Chinese railway, saying he was anxious to start building similarly ambitious projects in California. During a five-hour ride covering more than 800 miles, the governor also touted the possibility of Chinese investment in the $68 ...

The judicial panel was unmoved.

Judges deny bid to end prison oversight

Community group buys cross site on Mount Rubidoux

RIVERSIDE . (AP) - A community group seeking to preserve a towering cross atop Riverside's city-owned Mount Rubidoux has purchased a small parcel around the landmark. The Press-Enterprise reports) the group Totally Mt. Rubidoux paid $10,500 in Thursday's auction for the parcel. The City Council voted to sell the land around the cross to avoid a lawsuit on ...

Bay Area briefs

PETALUMA SCHOOL CREATES FLAP OVER GIRLS' PANTS: PETALUMA (AP) - A Northern California middle school is clarifying its dress code after female students said they were told they could no longer wear tight-fitting pants because they distracted the boys.

Judges deny bid to end prison oversight

Community group buys cross site on Mount Rubidoux

RIVERSIDE . (AP) - A community group seeking to preserve a towering cross atop Riverside's city-owned Mount Rubidoux has purchased a small parcel around the landmark. The Press-Enterprise reports) the group Totally Mt. Rubidoux paid $10,500 in Thursday's auction for the parcel. The City Council voted to sell the land around the cross to avoid a lawsuit on ...

209 News

JAY LENO POKES FUN AT STOCKTON: STOCKTON &ndash; It's a city with rising unemployment, bankruptcy and crime. But now funnyman Jay Leno is piling on Stockton.

State bill aimed at Scouts' gay ban passes hurdle

Fewer Californians get health care at work

Brown mystified at continuing prison legal case; faces possible contempt

Court: Cities can ban medical pot shops

State news briefs

Background on the case, recent developments and what happens next: What is the court case at issue?

CPUC: PG&E should pay $2.25B for blast

Crews mop up coastal mountain wildfire as rain falls

Truckee River flows peak, 3rd lowest in four decades

TRUCKEE (AP) - Some of the lowest season flows in the Truckee River in four decades are raising concerns about Nevada's lingering drought.

If you buy over Internet you’re probably a tax cheat

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Buy anything on the Internet lately without paying sales tax? In all but a few states, you're probably a tax cheat.

Central Coast rancher wins right to help homeless after court fight

SAN LUIS OBISPO (AP) - A Central Coast rancher and local hero to the homeless vowed to finally to build the Sunny Acres sober living facility after more than a decade in court and conflicts.

Rolling Stones launch tour with energetic set; youngest member now 65 years old

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Rolling Stones must have passed through a time machine before taking the Staples Center stage to kick off their "50 and Counting" anniversary tour.

State news briefs

&bull; 2 DEAD, 5 HURT AFTER VAN CRASHES ON HIGHWAY 99: FRESNO (AP) - Two men died and five others were hospitalized with injuries early Saturday after a van carrying farmworkers overturned on a Fresno highway, authorities said.

Brown, Demos in Medicaid expansion tiff

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California was an early booster of President Barack Obama's health care reform law and was the first state to authorize a health insurance exchange in 2010. It also was quick to commit to the optional Medicaid expansion that has been rejected by some Republican states.

Divers search reservoirs for murder clues

VALLEY SPRINGS (AP) - Divers are searching two reservoirs and detectives are knocking on doors in Calaveras County as the investigation continues into the killing of 8-year-old Leila Fowler.

Fourth abalone diver dies in NorCal waters

SANTA ROSA (AP) - A diver died Saturday in the quest for abalone that has claimed three other lives in the waters off Northern California the past week.

Cellphone thefts accounts for half of all SF robberies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Disturbed by the nationwide epidemic of cellphone robberies and thefts, law enforcement officials across the country are looking to the wireless industry to help find a cure.