JUDGE REFUSES TO LIFT STAY-AWAY ORDER FOR SHERIFF: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A judge has refused to lift a stay-away order for embattled San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi meaning he still must stay away from his family after being charged with domestic violence and other misdemeanors.

Judge Susan Breall said Thursday that Mirkarimi can not visit his wife, Eliana Lopez, and their 2-year-old son, Theo.

But in making her decision, Breall said that Mirkarimi should petition the family court to seek visitation rights for his son.

Mirkarimi's new lawyer, Lidia Stiglich said that Mirkarimi is taking the allegations seriously, having been to three counseling sessions. She did not specify what sort of sessions they were.

After the hearing, Mirkarimi said he was "incredibly disappointed" that he can't see his family.

He is scheduled to go to trial next month on domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness charges. Mirkarimi has pleaded not guilty.

COURT REJECTS SUIT OVER SF BAY AREA MAN'S STABBING: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A state appeals court has ruled that the mother of a slain Redwood City man cannot sue San Mateo County for her son's death at the hands of a teen who walked away from a county probation camp.

The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said this week that state and local governments are not responsible for harm caused by escaped inmates.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Monica Gutierrez. The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/wxHNxu) that Gutierrez's son, 23-year-old Ramon Buenrostro, was stabbed to death in 2008. Sixteen-year-old Adrian Sedano was tried as an adult and convicted of second-degree murder in the attack.

Sedano had escaped several weeks before the stabbing from Camp Glenwood, an unlocked county-run juvenile probation camp near La Honda.