PG&E  SUED OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CANAL BREAK: COLFAX,  (AP) — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has been hit by a pair of lawsuits over its handling of a canal failure two years ago that forced thousands of Placer County residents to ration water.

The suits were filed separately by the owners of properties abutting the canal in a remote area near Colfax.

They claim the utility failed to properly maintain the Bear River Canal, mishandled the response to the rupture and failed to adequately restore affected property afterward.

The lawsuits seek millions of dollars in damages.

A 2011 landslide broke a 40-foot section of the canal, depriving the agency of its main source of water.

Paul Moreno, a PG&E spokesman, says the utility responded quickly to the canal break and got the water flowing again ahead of schedule.

DAMAGE ESTIMATE FROM RURAL NORCAL QUAKE TOPS $1M: QUINCY  (AP) — Officials in a part of rural northeastern California that was shaken by a magnitude-5.7 earthquake last week are estimating that the temblor caused more than $1 million in damage.

Plumas County Office of Emergency Services Director Jerry Sipe said Tuesday that more than 50 homes in the Lake Almanor basin were damaged during the quake on Thursday night. The basin occupies a rugged region where the Sierra and Cascade mountains meet.

Sipe says broken and toppled chimneys were the most common type of damage, but that the quake also broke decks, porches and windows. Some homes suffered flooding and water damage, and one was lifted off its foundation.

The earthquake also ruptured a tank that supplies residential drinking water, but an advisory instructing customers to boil their drinking water was lifted over the weekend.

PORT OF WEST SACRAMENTO GOING PRIVATE: WEST SACRAMENTO  (AP) — Starting in July, a private operator will take over control of the Port of West Sacramento, in a deal city officials hope will save the facility from bankruptcy.

The city is handing over operations of the 50-year-old port to its current manager, SSA Pacific of Seattle.

The five-year lease is expected to produce at least $650,000 annually. SSA also has agreed to relieve the city of $850,000 in debt it owes the company.

The newspaper says the port has lost $6 million over the last five years. It narrowly avoided bankruptcy before the city of West Sacramento took over operations in 2006 from a regional commission that included Sacramento and Sacramento County.

9 VICTIMS RESCUED FROM TAHOE AFTER BOAT CAPSIZES: SOUTH LAKE TAHOE. (AP) — Deputies say nine people were rescued from the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe after their boat capsized over the weekend.

El Dorado County sheriff's deputies say they found six people clinging to the hull of an overturned boat when they responded to the scene near Dollar Point Saturday afternoon.

Deputies say people aboard a sailboat had pulled three victims from the water, but were struggling against heavy winds to rescue the others.

Sheriff's officials say they pulled two people from the water, while Coast Guard personnel rescued another four.