MAGNITUDE-4.1 QUAKE SHAKES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: YORBA LINDA (AP) — A magnitude-4.1 earthquake rolled across Southern California on Wednesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
The 1:31 p.m. quake was centered two miles northeast of Yorba Linda, or 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and occurred at a depth of 5 1/2 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
A quake of such magnitude is unlikely to cause significant damage.
Paul Wormser, acting director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, said there was no damage to anything on the premises.
"It was a sharp jolt, very brief, just one very sharp jolt," he said.
The epicenter was well away — about 150 miles — from where an earthquake swarm has been shaking the state's southeastern corner since Sunday.
BILL GIVES DOMESTIC WORKERS UNION-STYLE WORK RULES: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Nannies, housekeepers, child care providers and caregivers in California would have to be paid overtime and given meal and rest breaks under a bill making its way to the governor's desk.
AB889, by Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, also would require live-in workers to be compensated if their eight-hour rest period was interrupted.
Democratic Sen. Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles said he was confident the bill would eventually pass the Senate Wednesday, despite falling short on an initial roll call.
The law exempts teenage baby sitters and family members, but opponents argued it is impractical as it applies to other child care workers.
Sen. Doug La Malfa, a Republican from Willows, says the bill appears to be aimed at letting unions organize a new class of employees.
BURNED BOBCAT RESCUED BY N. CALIF. FIREFIGHTERS: SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) — A bobcat kitten apparently abandoned during the chaos of a California wildfire has been rescued by firefighters and taken to a shelter for treatment of burns.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports members of the Mad River Hand Crew were patrolling the north end of the 74,000-acre Chips Fire in Plumas National Forest when they found the bobcat on Saturday.
Crew superintendent Tad Hair says the animal is about the size of a domestic kitten and was walking in circles near a stump.
There was no adult bobcat in the area, so the injured animal was taken to the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care for treatment of second-degree burns on her paws.
The bobcat, named Chips, is doing well.
The fire started July 29 and is nearing containment.
EX-BELL OFFICIAL SEEKS $837,000 FROM CITY: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Bell official who was fired during a corruption scandal is suing the city.
The Los Angeles Times says Eric Eggena is seeking $837,000 in severance pay and compensation for unused vacation and sick time.
Eggena was director of general services in the small Los Angeles suburb. He was paid as much as $421,000 a year.
Eggena was one of several Bell officials who received huge salaries and was fired when the scandal broke.
However, he was not one of the eight Bell officials facing criminal charges.
The city was served with the lawsuit last week. An attorney for Bell, Anthony Taylor, calls the demand outrageous.
But Eggena's attorney, Richard Shinee, says the city must honor its contract with his client, regardless of the terms.
OIL COMPANIES MUST GIVE FARMERS NOTICE: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Oil companies and others who own mineral rights would have to give farmers at least 30 days' notice before they begin drilling or excavating under a bill unanimously approved by the state Senate.
Republican Sen. Tom Berryhill of Modesto says AB1966 would clarify an existing law that is vague and requires mineral-rights owners to give notice when they first enter a property.
The bill passed 36-0 Wednesday and returns to the Assembly.
Berryhill says the goal is to encourage farmers and oil companies to negotiate a way to reduce damage to the entire farming operation while increasing safe conditions for both farmers and oil workers.
Sen. Anthony Cannella, a Republican from Ceres, says the bill must be worthwhile because it leaves both farmers and the oil industry unhappy.
RANGER USING STUN GUN ON DOG OWNER OK: MONTARA, (AP) — The National Park Service says a ranger didn't violate policy when she used a stun gun to subdue a man she had detained for walking at least one of his dogs without a leash in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The park service's Office of Professional Responsibility cleared ranger Sarah Cavallaro of potential discipline in April, Rep. Jackie Speier told the San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday. She released a letter she received from Frank Dean, the general superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in June in which Dean said Cavallaro's use of the stun gun was "within policy and consistent with the training she received."
Park officials have said Cavallaro used a stun gun on Hesterberg near Montara in San Mateo County on Jan. 29 after Hesterberg gave her a false name and refused repeated orders to remain at the scene. Cavallaro had stopped Hesterberg, 51, because at least one of his dogs was off leash in violation of park rules.
MOJAVE DESERT PARENTS RETURN TO COURT OVER CHARTER: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A parents' group that won a court order to convert a struggling Mojave Desert elementary school into a charter is returning to court to force the school district to comply with the order.
The Desert Trails Parent Union filed the petition in San Bernardino County Superior Court on Tuesday, asking Judge Steve Malone to enforce the order he issued last month to the Adelanto Elementary School District.
The school board earlier this month voted to form an advisory council to oversee reforms at the low-performing Desert Trails Elementary School instead of proceeding with the charter conversion as Malone had ordered.
The parent union submitted a petition signed by more than half the school's parents in favor of the charter conversion, meeting the requirements of California's much-debated parent empowerment law.
CALIFORNIA BEACH CLOSES AFTER MEXICAN SEWAGE SPILL: IMPERIAL BEACH (AP) — A popular surfing beach was expected to remain closed for days after a pipe broke in Tijuana, Mexico, and spewed nearly 3 million gallons of sewage into the Pacific Ocean, authorities said Wednesday.
Sewage was going into the ocean at the rate of about 1,000 gallons a minute, forcing San Diego County authorities to close several miles of beach to swimmers, said Mark McPherson, chief of the county environmental health department's land and water quality division.
Mexican authorities were expected to have the line repaired by Thursday morning, said Steve Smullen, operations manager in San Diego for the International Boundary and Water Commission.
MOM FIGHTS OFF INTRUDER, THWARTS TODDLER KIDNAP: FOWLER (AP) — A California mother has furiously battled an masked intruder trying to kidnap her toddler daughter from their home.
Fresno County sheriff's investigators say a man wearing a black ski mask broke into the home west of Fowler just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. He knocked the woman to the floor and struck and kicked her.
The Fresno Bee says the man then grabbed the woman's 2-year-old daughter and tried to get to his car.
The mother got a shotgun and ordered the attacker to release the girl.
Investigators say he dropped the child and drove away.
The child wasn't hurt and the mother's injuries were minor.
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