CALIF. BOY HURT IN BOSTON BOMBINGS MAY LEAVE ICU: MARTINEZ (AP) — The mother of an 11-year-old Northern California boy injured in the Boston Marathon bombings says he has taken a huge step forward.
Katherine Hern said in a Facebook posting on Thursday that Aaron may be able to leave the intensive care unit of Boston Children's Hospital as soon as Friday.
He had successful surgery on Wednesday, and doctors were able to close all of his wounds without skin grafts.
But Katherine Hern say there are still concerns about infection and proper blood flow in repaired muscle tissue in his leg.
The bombs exploded Monday as Aaron and a group of family and friends from Martinez waited near the finish line to cheer on Katherine as she finished the race.
UC ADMISSION OFFERS UP AGAIN FOR NONRESIDENTS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — High school seniors who hoped to be admitted to the University of California for the coming fall had an edge if their resumes included out-of-state addresses.
UC officials reported Thursday that for the third time in as many years, the number of non-Californians offered admission to one of the system's nine undergraduate campuses has climbed.
A record 82,850 students, or 59 percent of all applicants, have been accepted as freshmen. Of those, nearly 28 percent are from other states or abroad.
The reason more foreign and out-of-state students got in is economics. Nonresidents pay nearly three times more in tuition.
Because not all students who are admitted end up enrolling, it is still too early to say what proportion of the freshman class will come from outside California, officials said.
BAY BRIDGE BOLT TROUBLE NOTED YEARS AGO: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Officials in charge of building a new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge repeatedly questioned the work and quality control of companies involved in making long seismic safety bolts that broke while being tightened.
In March, a third of the 96 bolts failed, and transportation officials said it could take months to find the cause and fix the problem, meaning the scheduled Labor Day opening of the new $6.3 billion span could be in jeopardy.
Hundreds of pages of documents released to news media by the California Department of Transportation show its inspectors found structural integrity issues with some of the bolts several years ago, before they were installed.
The documents were unclear about whether issues flagged by Caltrans' own inspectors in 2007 and 2008 were remedied before the bolts were delivered and installed.
TEEN CHARGED AS ADULT IN PARAMEDIC SLAYING: OAKLAND . (AP) — A 16-year-old is being charged as an adult for the slaying of an off-duty paramedic who was shot during what prosecutors say was an attempted carjacking.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley says Christian Burton is being charged with murder for the killing of 34-year-old Quinn Boyer.
Boyer was fatally shot in the head while driving his car in the Oakland hills on April 2, and died two days later.
Five other teens ages 13 through 15 are being charged in juvenile court with multiple felonies.
OAKLAND BUDGET WOULD INCREASE POLICE STAFFING: OAKLAND (AP) — Oakland's mayor has proposed a budget that recommends increasing funds for public safety, job creation and economic development but reduces spending overall.
Mayor Jean Quan's spending plan for the next two fiscal years calls for having a total of four police academies, which would bring the Oakland Police Department's staffing to nearly 700 officers.
Quan said she plans to reduce overall spending by $11.6 million in the first year and by $16.1 million in the second year.
She said her budget is balanced and includes spending reductions that are necessary to close projected shortfalls. Quan's plan would eliminate at least 86 full time jobs, although she hopes that many of those losses will be offset by attrition instead of layoffs.
SAN JOSE DEFENSE ATTORNEY CHANGES STORY ABOUT CLIENT: SAN JOSE (AP) — A defense attorney who told a Santa Clara County judge that he was assaulted by his own client has changed his story with the client now on trial on assault charges stemming from the alleged incident.
Attorney Andy Tursi made the complaint against Ernesto Mirabal about 2½ years ago, according to court records. It's unusual for a defense attorney to implicate his client in an alleged crime, but Tursi told the judge that Mirabal slammed his head into a jail wall and threatened to "do him."
"I just can't be afraid for my safety every moment I'm in the room with this person," Tursi told Judge Rise Jones Pichon, according to a transcript of the conversation that has been unsealed.
Mirabal at the time was on trial for allegedly trying to hire a gang member to prevent a teen witness from testifying against him. He had allegedly pimped the teenage girl out of a motel.
The judge declared a mistrial after hearing Tursi's complaint.
Prosecutors then charged Mirabal with making a criminal threat against Tursi. But in another twist, Tursi now says the confrontation was no big deal and has downplayed the encounter.
"Seventy percent of my clients want to strangle me (at) one time or another," Tursi told a San Jose grand jury before the trial started.
He says he fell against the wall on Nov. 5, 2010, after the two men confronted each other at close range, the Mercury News reported.
Tursi and Mirabal had apparently been at odds over the strategy for Mirabal's defense, and Mirabal had twice tried to have Tursi fired.
