1 DEAD, 2 WOUNDED IN MODESTO SHOOTING: MODESTO (AP) — One person was fatally shot and two others wounded in a daytime shooting at a south Modesto home on Tuesday, and police said it appears at least one assault rifle was used.
Officers were called at about 12:45 p.m., after neighbors reported gunfire, Modesto police Sgt. Rick Armendariz said.
Two men were found by officers wounded in front of the home, and a third man was found dead in a detached room behind the residence, he said.
"The two survivors were taken to local hospitals and are in stable condition," Armendariz said.
Police believe an assault rifle and a handgun were used in the shooting.
No arrests have been made, but witnesses have told police that a black vehicle was seen speeding off from the shooting scene.
WATER SUPPLIES ADEQUATE DESPITE THIN SNOWPACK: SACRAMENTO . (AP) — Sierra snow depths are well below normal for this time of year, but reservoirs that remain full from last year's massive snowpack are expected to provide adequate water supplies for California's farms and cities.
The state Department of Water Resources conducted its fifth and final manual snow survey of the season Tuesday. Water content in the Sierra snowpack was measured at 40 percent of normal. It was 190 percent of normal this time last year.
The department expects to deliver 60 percent of the water requested by users of the State Water Project, which supplies 25 million Californians and more than 1 million acres of agricultural land.
The winter snowpack is crucial because it provides about a third of California's water supply as it melts throughout spring and summer.
MAYOR FILES OPENING BRIEF IN SF SHERIFF CASE: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco's mayor has filed his opening brief with the city's Ethics Commission, as he seeks to have suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi removed from office following Mirkarimi's domestic violence conviction.
In the brief filed this week, Mayor Ed Lee disputed Mirkarimi's claim that he did not commit official misconduct because he was only sheriff-elect and not yet sheriff when he allegedly bruised his wife's arm on New Year's Eve.
Mirkarimi pleaded guilty in March to one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment.
Lee says Mirkarimi attended numerous transition meetings with incumbent Sheriff Michael Hennessey immediately following his election and also took part in at least two confidential disciplinary hearings.
SHIPMENTS OF METH-MAKING CHEMICALS SEIZED AT LAX: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Customs officials in Los Angeles have seized tons of a chemical that can be used to make methamphetamine.
Authorities announced Tuesday that they seized 5,700 pounds of methylamine chloride that arrived at Los Angeles International Airport in two shipments last month.
No arrests were made.
Authorities say the shipments from China were headed to central Mexico, where they could have been turned into meth with an estimated street value of $40 million.
The chemical has legal uses such as making pesticides but its distribution is controlled because it can be used to make meth and the party drug Ecstasy.
2 GUILTY IN ROBBERY MURDER AT N. HIGHLAND PHARMACY: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Two men accused of fatally shooting a pharmacy clerk during a 2010 robbery have been convicted of first-degree murder and other charges.
J urors deliberated for barely a full day before returning the verdict against 43-year-old Kevin Peterson and 35-year-old Bernard said.
Authorities say both men tried robbing Rexall pharmacy in North Highlands in September 2010, but the store owner's son pulled his own gun, resulting in a gunfight.
Authorities say Peterson shot Tania Gurskiy in the head as he ran out of the pharmacy.
Surveillance video showed Peterson, and police found his fingertip at the scene after a gunshot wound that severed a ring finger.
CA FINES FOR BANNED PESTICIDE FOUND ON PEACHES: FRESNO (AP) — Two San Joaquin Valley pesticide dealers must pay $105,000 in fines after selling a pesticide to peach growers that wasn't authorized for the fruit.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation says its investigation resulted in the 2010 recall of 24 million pounds of peaches, worth an estimated $1.1 million.
Officials say Gar Tootelian Inc. and Britz-Simplot Grower Solutions LLC unlawfully sold Comite for treatment of peach mites.
Spot checks by the department at farmers' markets and wholesale and retail outlets revealed the illegal residues.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency outlawed Comite on peaches in 1996. It's a potential carcinogen toxic to amphibians and fish.
The state ordered Gar Tootelian to pay $60,000, and Britz-Simplot to pay $45,000. Both companies said Tuesday that they've since instituted new procedures.
SAN DIEGO MAN HELD FOR CEMETERY ATTACK ON SON: SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego police have arrested a man they say slashed his 8-year-old son with broken glass at a cemetery as a sacrifice to his dead grandmother.
Joseph Ramirez was arrested after the weekend attack at Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego. He remains jailed Tuesday on suspicion of attempted murder and child abuse.
The San Diego man reportedly had heard his grandmother's voice telling him to sacrifice his son.
Police say he took his three children to the cemetery on Saturday and cut the boy's arms with a broken candle holder he'd brought with him.
Police say he then cut his own forearms. Other cemetery visitors confronted Ramirez and he ran but was tackled by a security guard.
GIRL SCOUTS LEADER ARRESTED FOR COOKIE MONEY THEFT: ARCADIA (AP) — Investigators say the Southern California leader of a Girl Scouts troop had her hand in the cookie jar.
Arcadia police Capt. Larry Goodman says 30-year-old Ana Isabel Juarez has been arrested and booked for investigation of felony grand theft. The investigation is continuing and Juarez is due in court on May 8.
More than $4,000 in profits from cookie sales was discovered missing from the account of the South El Monte-El Monte-based troop. Another $2,000 in troop money is also missing.
