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Bay Area briefs
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Mavericks big-wave surfing contest unlikely

HALF MOON BAY . (AP) — A Mavericks big-wave surfing contest in California isn't likely this year.

The window for the competition closes on March 31 and organizers say it doesn't appear the right combination of wind and ocean swell will materialize.

Mavericks International contest director Jeff Clark saod that the window won't be extended.

The first Mavericks Invitational Festival will be held March 31 in lieu of the contest in the parking lot of the Oceano Hotel & Spa in Princeton-by-the-Sea.

The festival features food and live music.

Kitten has hair-raising ride in Bay Area

SANTA CRUZ  (AP) — A stowaway kitten is safe despite taking a hair-raising ride across the Golden Gate Bridge in a van's engine compartment.

Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter spokesman Todd Stosuy says the 8-month-old feline was probably just looking for a warm place to sleep.

Instead the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports the female kitten endured an 85-mile road trip south from Marin County.

The van's road-tripping driver spent the night in a Mill Valley parking lot before heading out Wednesday morning for Santa Cruz.

He didn't stop until he reached a gas station in the beachfront city, where he heard a distinct meowing. He opened the hood and found the kitten with a blue, studded collar and blue bell but no identification.

Stosuy says the shelter is trying to locate the owner.

Crews build berm to protect Santa Cruz Boardwalk

SANTA CRUZ  (AP) — Work crews have redirected the San Lorenzo River away from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and back toward Monterey Bay.

Crews are building up a berm on the Main Beach to protect the historic amusement park.

Last week's storms had swelled the river and pushed it dangerously close to the 105-year-old boardwalk, creating a deep pool of water next to the promenade.

Kris Reyes, a spokesman for the company that owns the amusement park, says crews managed to stop the flow of water against the boardwalk on Tuesday.

Boardwalk rides are expected to be open this weekend if weather permits.

Police try to unravel Brentwood murder-suicide

BRENTWOOD  (AP) — Investigators are trying to unravel the chain of events that led to what they're calling a murder-suicide in Brentwood Wednesday afternoon.

Brentwood police Lt. Tom Hansen says a man, whose name has not been released, shot his estranged wife, then turned the gun on himself.

Hansen says the bodies of the couple were found by their 14-year-old daughter around 2: 30 p.m. She was the only child living in the home. Hansen says the couple had another daughter who lived outside the home.

Authorities have not released the names of any of the family members.

Hansen says he was not aware of officers being called to the home previously for any domestic problems.

The homicide is the first in Brentwood