Needy teen gets free tickets to school from others

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Days after a San Francisco transit worker was fired for giving a teenager free train tickets to get to school, a second good Samaritan has stepped in to help the boy.

A woman who wants to remain anonymous contacted his school on Wednesday and said she would pay for the 16-year-old boy's bus and Bay Area Rapid Transit fares to school until he graduates. The act of generosity will cost up to $15 a day.

The woman decided to help after the media reported a train station agent was fired for giving the boy $300 worth of paid, unused tickets left behind by commuters. Those tickets are usually thrown away.

The teen's father died last year. His grandparents took him in and enrolled him in a school far from home.

14-year-old beaten to death in San Jose

SAN JOSE (AP) — San Jose police believe the beating death of a 14-year-old at a downtown park was gang-related.

Heriberto Reyes died at a hospital on Monday, three days after police say he was attacked by a group of people at Roosevelt Park shortly after he was dropped off there by his father in the evening.

Transgender woman shot to death in Oakland

OAKLAND  (AP) — Oakland police are investigating the shooting death of a transgender woman whom witnesses and friends think was targeted because of her gender identity.

Hayward resident Brandy Martell was in the driver's seat of a car with three other transgender women on Sunday morning when a group of men who had approached the women earlier returned and an argument ensued.

One of the men fired into the car, killing the 37-year-old Martell.

The Tribune says police have not released a motive in the killing.