Bay Bridge eastern span opening date announced

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is set to open on or just after Labor Day 2013.

The California Department of Transportation announced the opening at a meeting of the Bay Area Toll Authority on Wednesday.

Officials had previously said the new span would open in late 2013, but had not offered a more specific date.

The original plan called for the span's westbound lanes to open in 2013 with the eastbound span completed as much as a year later. But Caltrans officials now say both will open simultaneously.

The entire bridge will be closed, however, for several days before the opening, as crews reconfigure the approach from the toll plaza.

That closure should last four days although it is still being planned.

Police say woman tossed dog out 3rd-story window

SAN FRANCISCO. (AP) — Police say a woman tossed a dog out a third-story San Francisco apartment window.

Officer Carlos Manfredi says the Jack Russell terrier is recovering.

The San Francisco Chronicle says 22-year-old Danielle Walker of Tiburon was arrested on Sunday after the dog was tossed out of the Mission District window.

A witness contacted police and said she saw Walker hurl the dog out the window.

The dog owner, a man whose name hasn't been released, went outside a short time later to retrieve the injured dog and he got into an argument with the witness.

Walker then emerged from the building and the witness told police she was the dog thrower.

Walker was arrested and booked for investigation of animal cruelty.

Berkeley police officer pinned by suspect’s car

CASTRO VALLEY (AP) — Authorities say a Berkeley police officer shot a suspect after the suspect pinned the officer's partner between two vehicles.

The incident occurred around 5 p.m. Wednesday in Castro Valley. The officers had apparently tailed the suspect there in an unmarked vehicle and pulled him over to make an arrest.

That's when authorities say he pinned the officer and was shot by the officer's partner.

The officer who was pinned suffered serious hand and leg injuries. The suspect's condition was not known.

Neither the officers nor the suspect has been identified. Authorities have not said why the officers pulled the suspect over.

Man sentenced in attack on driving grandmother

HALF MOON BAY  (AP) — A Half Moon Bay man convicted of brutally attacking his 82-year-old grandmother for driving too slowly is headed to prison.

A judge sentenced 27-year-old Vittorio Vincent Valdez to three years in prison on Wednesday. He pleaded no contest in November to elder abuse and kidnapping.

Authorities say Valdez's grandmother was driving him from Palo Alto to Half Moon Bay on Sept. 24 when he grew angry at the slow speed, tried to push her leg down on the accelerator and punched her several times when she tried to leave the vehicle.

Valdez was getting a ride since his license was suspended.

Valdez's grandmother denied that he had hit her, but authorities say a deputy saw Valdez pull her hair and slam her head against the passenger window before stopping the car.