TEMPS HIT RECORD LEVELS IN PARTS OF BAY AREA: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Forecasters say a mass of warm air across a wide area of Northern California has pushed temperatures up to record levels in parts of the Bay Area.
The National Weather Service says Monday's high of 85 degrees at Oakland Airport broke the previous high for April 22, which was 82 degrees set in 1966.
At San Francisco International Airport the weather service says the temperature reached 82 degrees, tying a record set in 1981.
Inland areas were even warmer, with the temperature at Sacramento International Airport hitting 89 degrees at 3 p.m.
Forecasters say Monday is expected to be the warmest day of week with cooler air moving in from the coast helping to keep temperatures down a bit for the rest of the week.
ALAMEDA SHERIFF URGED TO PULL OUT OF FED PROGRAM: OAKLAND (AP) — County leaders are adding to the pressure on Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern to stop detaining immigrants under a federal program that has led to the deportation of nearly 2,000 county residents since 2008.
Supervisor Richard Valle will introduce a resolution Tuesday urging the sheriff to pull out of Secure Communities, a voluntary program in which local authorities forward fingerprints of anyone they arrest to federal officials. The prints are then compared against a database to check criminal histories and immigration status.
Valle says the program costs the county money and leads to unequal treatment of residents, Latinos in particular.
Ahern argues that he is following federal policies, even as nearby cities and counties, including San Jose and San Francisco, have stopped cooperating with the program.
REUTERS EDITOR CHARGED WITH HACKING: I WAS FIRED: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Reuters deputy social media editor accused of conspiring with hackers to deface a Los Angeles Times story said Monday he had been fired.
His dismissal came the day before 26-year-old Matthew Keys was scheduled to appear in federal court for the first time on the felony charges. His attorneys say he plans to plead not guilty.
Federal prosecutors allege Keys provided the hacking group Anonymous with login information to access the computer system of The Tribune Co., the Times' parent company.
According to a federal indictment handed down last month, a hacker identified only as "Sharpie" used information Keys supplied in an Internet chat room to alter a headline on a December 2010 Times story to reference another hacking group.
Tribune also owns a Sacramento television station Keys had been fired from months earlier.
Keys has said he did not commit the crimes he's accused of. He did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment Monday, but he did post several online messages saying Reuters had not fired him as a result of the indictment.
SENATE APPROVES CALTRANS CHIEF DESPITE CONCERNS: SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state Senate has approved Gov. Jerry Brown's choice to lead the California Department of Transportation, despite concerns over frequent problems at the agency.
Even supporters of Director Malcolm Dougherty say he has much work to do to improve the department where he has worked since 1992. He has been acting director since 2011.
Sen. Joel Anderson, a Republican from Alpine in San Diego County, called Dougherty "an absolute dismal failure" because of repeated problems. Those include employees falsifying bridge safety reports and media accounts of workers drinking booze while on state time.
But Anderson was the lone voice speaking in opposition.
Republican Sen. Jean Fuller of Bakersfield was among lawmakers saying Dougherty is the right choice to fix the problems.
Senators confirmed the appointment on a 34-3 vote Monday.
MOUNTAIN LION SIGHTINGS AT SOUTH LAKE TAHOE: SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) — Authorities at South Lake Tahoe are warning residents about a pair of mountain lion sightings in the area last week.
The El Dorado County Animal Services says the cat was spotted on both Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in a meadow between Lake Tahoe Community College and the South Tahoe Public Utility District headquarters.
Lt. Robert Gerat, the supervising animal services officer, says in both cases the mountain lion appeared to be calm and did not exhibit any aggressive behavior.
FIREFIGHTERS ENCOUNTER BEARS AT BRUSH BLAZE: MONROVIA (AP) — Firefighters finishing off containment lines around a brush fire burn area in foothills northeast of Los Angeles are running into a new problem: bears.
Monrovia city spokeswoman Jennifer McLain says fire crews and residents reported bear encounters at least seven times since Sunday.
She says smoke from the smoldering blaze is apparently sending the animals down into residential areas.
Animal control officers are on call to usher the bears back into their San Gabriel Mountains habitat.
Power equipment used by a gardener working in a backyard sparked the fire Saturday.
More than 300 houses were under evacuation orders at the fire's peak.
MAN PLEADS NO CONTEST IN YACHT KIDNAPPING: SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A South San Francisco man is facing up to four years and four months in jail after pleading no contest to charges that he kidnapped his two children and took them away on a stolen yacht.
Forty-three-year-old Christopher Maffei entered the plea Friday in a San Mateo County courtroom on one count of child abduction and one count of possession of a stolen boat.
Authorities say Maffei kidnapped his 3-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son from their mother's South San Francisco home Sept. 4. They say he then took them on a 41-foot yacht he stole from an Alameda marina.
Authorities say Maffei and the children spent three days on the water before the Coast Guard intercepted the vessel off Monterey County. The children were not hurt.
