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Bay Area briefs
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PLEAS DELAYED FOR COUPLE IN DRUG PLANT ARREST: SANTA ANA (AP) — A husband and wife accused of planting drugs in the car of a school aide they believed mistreated their son have appeared in court.

Jill and Kent Easter did not enter a plea Monday in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana. Another hearing was set for next month.

Prosecutors say the Irvine couple framed school volunteer Kelli Peters on Feb. 16, 2011, and then tipped police, who found marijuana and pain pills in her car.

Police focused on the Easters after an investigation of Peters indicated she was not a drug user.

The Los Angeles Times reports the parents filed court complaints in 2010 alleging Peters locked their first-grade son outside of an after-school program for fewer than 20 minutes and had stalked and harassed Jill Easter.

5 CHARGED WITH DISABLED ABUSE APPEAR IN COURT: SAN JOSE (AP) — Three family members charged with severely neglecting a dozen mentally disabled adults in their care in an upscale San Jose home are now back into custody.

Suspects George Dac Nguyen, Jennifer Ngo and Charles Nguyen were placed into custody after a judge increased their bail to $500,000 during their court appearance in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Monday.

The three had been released after each posted $10,000 bail.

Prosecutor Charles Huang says he believe a fourth suspect, Margaret Ngo, also scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon, will receive a similar fate. A fifth suspect, Kathy Le, awaits further prosecution.

The five relatives were charged earlier this month with felony dependent-abuse and animal neglect. They each could spend up to 18 years in prison if convicted.

SAN BERNARDINO COULD DECLARE FISCAL EMERGENCY: SAN BERNARDINO (AP) — The city of San Bernardino is considering declaring a fiscal emergency to avoid mediation and head straight to federal bankruptcy court.

The City Council is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon to discuss declaring the emergency because of a dire cash crunch in the city of 210,000 people.

The move would let San Bernardino avoid a neutral evaluation otherwise required under California law before a city can file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

San Bernardino could become the third California city in the past month to file for bankruptcy, following Stockton and Mammoth Lakes.

San Bernardino faces a roughly $45 million budget shortfall, even after slashing spending, and officials have said the city may not be able to make payroll in August.

FORMER DESERT RANCH OF ROY ROGERS SELLS FOR $645K: VICTORVILLE (AP) — The former 67-acre Mojave Desert ranch of late King of the Cowboys Roy Rogers has been sold for $645,000.

The Double R ranch in Oro Grande, an unincorporated area near Victorville, includes a 1,700-square-foot home, a red barn, a stable with 15 stalls, a half-mile horse track and fenced pastures.

The Victorville Daily Press says the Williams & Williams Worldwide auction firm sold the ranch to the highest bidder last week.

Eric and Anne Enriquez of Orange County restored the property after buying the ranch 10 years ago for $300,000.

The new owner is Margaret Tom, a retired social worker from Kaneohe, Hawaii. Tom says she's giving the ranch to her daughter and son-in-law to keep their Arabians.

Rogers was 86 when he died in 1998.

NEIGHBOR AND SUSPECT WOUNDED AFTER SUV CRASH: SANTA ANA (AP) — A neighbor and a suspect have been wounded during bizarre shootings after a sport utility vehicle slammed into parked cars and wound up in the front yard of a Southern California home.

Santa Ana police say the wounded men are hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

The SUV hit parked cars and a power pole in a Santa Ana neighborhood late Sunday and ended up in a yard.

Residents inside the house ordered the three people in the SUV to sit down until police arrived.

Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna tells KTTV that one of the men got up, pulled a gun and fired as he ran away. The bullet struck a neighbor who was watching the commotion.

The suspect then apparently tripped and he was wounded when his weapon fired.

SALMON FISHING SEASON OPENS CENTRAL CALIF. RIVERS: SACRAMENTO  (AP) — Recreational salmon fishing has begun on Central California rivers in what officials call the first normal season since the fall-run Chinook salmon crash five years ago.

The river fishing season was closed in 2008 and 2009.

More than 800,000 adult chinook salmon are expected to make the spawning run into the Sacramento River and its tributaries this year.

There was a historic low of about 40,000 spawning salmon in 2009.

The river salmon fishing season began Monday.

State Fish and Game fisheries spokesman Stafford Lehr says fishing should be good on the Sacramento, Feather, American and Mokelumne rivers.

.MAN ARRESTED IN   WOMAN'S DEATH: FAIR OAKS  (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man on suspicion of killing a 79-year-old woman at her Sacramento County home and then emerging naked, covered in blood as deputies waited outside.

Sheriff's spokesman Jason Ramos says 32-year-old Moses Stanley Trotter was arrested on Sunday night. Trotter is accused of robbing another home before knocking on doors and entering Carole Jane Sturgis's house in Fair Oaks.

Sheriff's deputies surrounded the house and demanded everyone inside exit. Ramos says Trotter ran out a short time later naked and covered in blood. Deputies quickly detained him, and he was booked into jail on suspicion of homicide.

Ramos says deputies who entered the house found 79-year-old Carole Jane Sturgis dead inside. She had extensive trauma to her body.

BODY OF FRESNO STATE STUDENT RECOVERED FROM LAKE: FRIANT  (AP) — Divers have recovered the body of a California State University, Fresno student who apparently drowned in Millerton Lake this weekend.

Kent Gresham, superintendent of the Millerton Lake State Recreation Area, says a Fresno County sheriff's dive team found the body of 27-year-old Phillip Johnson on Monday morning near the main boat ramp channel.

Johnson, of Westchester, Calif., disappeared in the water near the ramp on Sunday. Witnesses told authorities that he swam into deeper water to retrieve a child's sandal that had floated away. After he went under water, he never resurfaced.

According to the Division of Student Affairs at Fresno State, Johnson was a senior, majoring in mass communications and journalism.

Gresham said water near the boat ramp often drops down to more than 20 feet.