CALIFORNIA PERMITS OUTDOOR DINING WITH DOGS: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Fido can feast with you now when you go out to eat.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday announced signing a bill permitting pet dogs at restaurants with outdoor spaces. It does not force restaurants to allow dogs, but rather implements guidelines for how they can accommodate pets.
Some local public health departments have allowed dogs in outdoor dining areas for years, but the state has banned the practice. Local jurisdictions can still ban it if they choose.
The bill requires a separate entrance for outdoor dining areas and says pets are not allowed on chairs, seats or benches. They also must be on a leash or in a pet carrier under control of the owner.
Owners also must clean up after their pets.
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BODIES OF 2 MEN FOUND IN ADJACENT CALIFORNIA YARDS: MILL VALLEY (AP) — Authorities are investigating the deaths of two men in neighboring backyards in Northern California.
Marin County Sheriff's Lt. Doug Pittman says investigators believe the deaths in an unincorporated part of Mill Valley are related and are treating them as a double homicide.
Detectives were looking into the shooting death of the first man late Wednesday when they discovered the body of a second man also shot in an adjacent yard early Thursday morning.
Investigators also found a rifle alongside the second body.
AUNT OF TODDLER KILLED PLEADS NOT GUILTY: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An aunt has pleaded not guilty to her alleged role in the fatal hit-and-run accident of her 2-year-old niece.
Loryresha Gage (cq) entered her plea to felony child endangerment during her arraignment in San Francisco Superior Court on Thursday.
Prosecutors accuse the 25-year-old Gage of leaving her niece, Mi'Yana Gregory, alone in the middle of a busy crosswalk while trying to get her nephew, who remained on a sidewalk, in the city's South of Market neighborhood late Friday night.
Authorities say when Gage went back to get her nephew, her niece was fatally struck by a white car legally traveling through a green light.
Police are still looking for the driver.
EX-LA DEPUTY PLEADS OVER KIDS' PRANK GUNFIRE: SANTA CLARITA (AP) — A retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy won't be sent to jail for firing a gun into the air after a group of children pranked him at his Santa Clarita Valley home.
Prosecutors say 46-year-old Sung Jin Pak pleaded no contest Thursday to a misdemeanor count of negligent discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to five days of community service. He could have faced up to a year in jail.
Pak also must attend Alcoholics Anonymous classes for six months and cannot possess any firearms.
Authorities say Pak allegedly chased after a group of children and fired into the air after the youngsters repeatedly rang his doorbell as a prank last October.
Pak was suspended after his arrest and retired in June.
LAWMAKERS APPROVE BILLS EXPANDING REVENGE PORN BAN: SACRAMENTO (AP) — California lawmakers approved two bills that would expand a state ban on so-called revenge porn.
The Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved SB1255 by Republican Sen. Anthony Cannella of Ceres. It clarifies that the ban on sharing intimate photos by former lovers without consent includes "selfies," or pictures taken by the victim.
The Senate also passed AB2643 by Democratic Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski of Fremont. It allows victims of such crimes to sue for damages using a pseudonym.
Under current law, it is a misdemeanor to post identifiable nude pictures of someone else online without permission with the intent to cause emotional distress or humiliation. The penalty is up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
CALIFORNIA MARIJUANA GROW HARMED LAND: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a large marijuana growing operation damaged land in a national forest in Northern California.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced on Thursday that a grand jury had indicted Alejandro Soto-Silva on three counts in connection with the pot plants. The charges included marijuana cultivation and depredation of public lands and resources.
Authorities arrested the 21-year-old Mexican national on July 30 after finding more than 3,700 marijuana plants in the Plumas National Forest, which is northwest of Lake Tahoe. They say Soto-Silva was arrested after attempting to flee.
Prosecutors say irrigation pipes ran from a water source to man-made reservoirs used to water the plants.
BOARD FIRES HIGHLY PAID SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: LAWNDALE (AP) — A Southern California school board has fired its superintendent amid investigations into his outsized compensation.
The Centinela Valley Union High School District board wrapped up a six-week termination process against Jose Fernandez Wednesday night.
The 54-year-old Fernandez has come under fire for drawing a compensation package ranging from $663,000 to $750,000 in 2013.
In addition to the internal audit being conducted, Fernandez's pay is under review by the FBI, the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the district attorney's office.
Interim Superintendent Bob Cox said he doesn't know whether Fernandez will contest the firing.
WILDFIRE NEAR BAKERSFIELD NEARLY HALF CONTAINED: KERNVILLE (AP) — Crews continue to build containment lines around a wildfire burning in steep terrain northeast of Bakersfield that has destroyed eight homes.
Kern County Fire Capt. Derek Tisinger said Thursday that the blaze near Lake Isabella is 48 percent contained after scorching more than six square miles of dry brush.
Eight single-family homes and 10 outbuildings have been destroyed since the fire broke out on Monday.
Some 200 residents under evacuation orders were allowed to return home Wednesday evening.
Tisinger says crews are making good progress but a threat remains for some 1,500 homes near Kernville and Wofford Heights.
To the north, a one-square-mile Madera County blaze is 75 percent contained.
The fire started Monday about 16 miles from Yosemite National Park. It destroyed a total of 47 buildings.
TARGET ORDERED TO STOP BUILDING HOLLYWOOD STORE: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has ordered Target Corp. to stop work on a partly built Hollywood store that exceeded height regulations.
A Superior Court judge sided with two community groups who claimed the 74-foot-tall structure exceeded a 35-foot limit.
The court said the City Council must invalidate permits for the project and halt all construction.
Target has asked the 2nd District Court of Appeal to let work proceed. A foundation, walls and a roof have already been built.
The size and scale of development is frequently a controversial issue in Hollywood.
STUNT BLOCKS TRAFFIC ON GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Authorities are trying to identify a driver who performed a stunt on the Golden Gate Bridge while other vehicles blocked traffic.
Video that has surfaced online shows the driver doing doughnuts on the bridge in a sports car. California Highway Patrol Officer Andrew Barclay tells the Marin Independent Journal (http://bit.ly/1pi44tf) the CHP received a call about numerous other vehicles stopping traffic on Sunday afternoon to allow the stunt.
Barclay says the vehicles endangered themselves, pedestrians on the bridge's sidewalk and other drivers.
Similar stunts have occurred on freeways in Oakland.
