3 ARRESTED FOR POSSESSION OF ABALONE IN CALIFORNIA: UKIAH  (AP) — State wildlife officials have arrested three men on suspicion of illegally harvesting dozens of abalone in Northern California.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife says officers seized 59 of the edible mollusks along with the suspects’ dive gear and their van.

The agency says officers began surveillance on the suspected poachers Nov. 5 near the town of Elk in Mendocino County.

Officers later contacted the suspects at their San Francisco residence and arrested all three on charges including conspiracy to illegally harvest abalone. The suspects had removed all abalone from their shells which is an additional violation.

Booked into Mendocino County jail in Ukiah were 35-year-old Jin He Li, 27-year-old Wei Q Wu and 43-year-old Jinfu Wu. It wasn’t immediately known if they have lawyers.

NOROVIRUS TO BLAME FOR HOTEL’S SICKNESS OUTBREAK : REDWOOD CITY AP) — San Mateo County health officials have determined a norovirus outbreak caused more than 50 people at a Redwood City hotel to fall ill last month.

At least 60 guests and employees got sick during three special events at the Sofitel San Francisco Bay Hotel starting October 26. At least a dozen people were taken by ambulance to hospitals to be treated for dehydration.

The San Jose Mercury News reported Sunday that testing of samples taken from some of the sickened people confirmed the highly contagious virus was to blame.

The newspaper says the hotel responded to the outbreak by shutting down its food service and conducting a property-wide cleaning.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says norovirus is the leading cause of disease outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States.