uPERRIS  (AP) — Authorities say 7-year-old girl needed 1,000 stitches after a dog bit her face during a visit to a private animal rescue in Southern California.

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services said Saturday that the 2-year-old male Akita lunged and bit the girl at the facility in Romoland.

The girl was at the kennel with her family, hoping to adopt a dog.

KABC-TV reports the child is recovering after undergoing three hours of surgery.

The news station says the girl was with her family, hoping to adopt a dog.

Due to the severity of the attack, Animal Services is working to have the dog put down.

uRARE ALBINO FAWN RESCUED FROM ROAD IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: LOOMIS  (AP) — A white fawn has been rescued in northern California by a truck driver who delivered the rare animal to a rescue center.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the white deer was discovered sitting in the middle of a road in Woodland.

Diane Nicholas at Kindred Spirits Fawn Rescue says the 3-week-old fawn’s mother was not located and she is not sure how the deer came to be on the road in the city 29 miles (47 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento.

She says female deer often leave fawns while looking for food.

Nicholas says this is the first time she has treated an albino during 13 years operating the fawn rescue and rehabilitation center on her property in Loomis, where volunteers treat 50 to 80 fawns per year.

uNOBODY HURT IN BAY AREA GAS BLAST THAT RATTLED BUILDINGS: SANTA CLARA  (AP) — Authorities say nobody was hurt when an explosion at a chemical plant shook buildings for miles in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The blast Saturday at Air Products in Santa Clara sent flames shooting high into the air. It took crews more than an hour to douse the fire.

Evan Rosales told KGO-TV the explosion rattled his catering business and sent his employees scrambling out the back door.

Fire officials say a preliminary investigation finds the blast occurred as a tanker truck was being filled with hydrogen.

uMAN SHOT TRYING TO ROB OFF-DUTY DEPUTY AT SOCAL MALL: RIVERSIDE  (AP) — Police say a man was shot and wounded when he confronted an off-duty sheriff’s deputy and his family in a Southern California mall parking lot and tried to rob them at gunpoint.

Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback says the would-be robber was arrested late Saturday after he showed up at a hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

The Press-Enterprise newspaper says nobody else was hurt during the attempted robbery outside the Galleria at Tyler in Riverside.

Officials didn’t identify the off-duty deputy or say which agency he works for. 

uWOMAN TAKING PHOTOS DIES IN PLUNGE OFF TAHOE WATERFALL: SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) — Authorities say a woman plunged to her death down a Northern California waterfall after she slipped and lost her footing while taking photos.

The North Tahoe Fire Protection District said in a statement that the woman died Friday at Eagle Falls. Water cascades 150 feet (45 meters) from the waterfall overlooking Lake Tahoe.

Fire district spokeswoman Erin Holland said Saturday that witnesses reported the young woman was too close to the edge. There was no guardrail blocking access to the area.

The district says her death is “a sad reminder to be cautious when taking selfies and other photos in dangerous areas.”

Holland says very cold water feeding the waterfall is moving extremely fast because of snowmelt from record snowfall in the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains.

uCALIFORNIA GOVERNOR HAS DOUBTS ABOUT TOUGHER VACCINE RULES: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom says he has concerns about enacting tougher rules that limit doctors from granting medical exemptions for children’s vaccinations.

The measure would give state public health officials instead of local doctors the authority to decide which children can skip their shots before attending school. It’s being considered by the state Assembly amid growing cases of measles.

Newsom told reporters at the California Democratic Party Convention Saturday that although he supports immunization, he has concerns about having government officials sign off on vaccine exemptions. He said as a parent, he wouldn’t want a bureaucrat to make a personal decision for his family.

The Sacramento Bee reports Newsom didn’t mention the bill explicitly. Opponents say the doctor-patient relationship will be compromised if it becomes law.

California does not allow exemptions based on personal beliefs, but still allows exemptions for children who must avoid vaccinations for medical reasons.

1 DEAD, 1 WOUNDED IN SHOOTING AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HOUSE: RIVERSIDE  (AP) — Authorities say a gunman was arrested after a woman was killed and a man was wounded in a shooting at a Southern California home.

Riverside County sheriff’s officials say deputies responded Saturday following reports of gunshots in the Lake Hills neighborhood.

They found a woman dead inside the home. The wounded man was rushed to a hospital in unknown condition.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports the alleged gunman was arrested at the house. Investigators did not identify him or say what his relationship is to the victims.

The newspaper says three small children, including an infant, were home at the time of the shooting. None were injured.