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State news briefs
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26 CALVES STOLEN FROM STANISLAUS COUNTY DAIRY FARM: TURLOCK  (AP) — Stanislaus County authorities are investigating the theft of 26 calves from a dairy farm near Turlock.

Sheriff's officials say 16 of the calves vanished from the farm in Hilmar, Calif. on Monday between 2:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. The others were stolen two weeks ago.

Thieves on Monday also walked off with 20 bales of hay from a neighboring farm.

The missing livestock are month-old female Jersey calves that weigh around 80 pounds and are valued at $1,000 each.

Farm managers say cattle at the farm are tracked with microchips, but calves are marked with plastic tags only.

NEARLY 100 CATS KILLED IN SAN JOSE HOUSE FIRE: SAN JOSE  (AP) — Nearly 100 cats died in a San Jose house fire that also nearly killed the woman who lived there.

Firefighters early Tuesday had to cut through metal netting to save the woman in her 70s who had installed the fencing to keep the cats from escaping.

The woman is a volunteer cat rescuer who cares for and neuters the felines for adoption.

She woke up to the sound of her lone dog barking after her fire alarm failed to sound and saw smoke billowing from a bedroom.

A fire dispatcher told her to stay low until crews got there and cut through the fencing that trapped her.

About six cats survived.

OC BANK ROBBER LEAVES BEHIND PHONY BOMB: ANAHEIM  (AP) — Authorities say an Orange County bank robber made his getaway after leaving a phony bomb that forced the evacuation of the branch and several nearby businesses.

The man walked into a Bank of America in Anaheim at around 5 p.m. Monday, claimed he had a bomb, left the device and fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

Sgt. Bob Dunn says evacuations were called until a bomb squad determined that the device had wires and batteries but no explosives.


LION THAT KILLED WILDLIFE VOLUNTEER WAS HEALTHY: DUNLAP  (AP) — A state report says a lion shot dead in March by deputies after it mauled a volunteer at a California wildlife park was in perfect health.

The California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory said in the report made available on Tuesday that extensive testing shows the male African lion known as Cous Cous did not have rabies, a viral disease that affects the brain. Had the test been positive, it might have explained why the young lion attacked 24-year-old Dianna Hanson of Washington state.

Hanson was cleaning the lion's cage at Cat Haven in the Sierra foothills east of Fresno. The 550-pound lion had been in an adjoining enclosure.

The report said testing was difficult because sheriff's deputies had shot the lion in the head.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY WOUNDED: SAN BERNARDINO  (AP) — A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy has been shot and wounded in an attack on a patrol car.

Authorities say the cruiser was attacked at around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday as deputies were heading to serve an eviction notice on Date Street in San Bernardino.

City police Lt. Paul Williams tells KABC-TV that someone opened fire from a car, hitting the patrol car.

TV news reports showed at least three bullet holes in the white patrol car.

Williams says the wounded deputy is hospitalized in stable condition and is expected to recover.

The deputies inside returned fire and Williams says San Bernardino later stopped a car that had bullet holes.

SEQUOIA-KINGS CANYON PARKS GET NEW SUPERINTENDENT: SEQUOIA-KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS (AP) — The former deputy superintendent at Yosemite National Park has been tapped for the top spot at neighboring Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Woody Smeck has been acting superintendent at the parks best known for its giant trees since April.

Smeck also has worked at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, where he spent 11 years as superintendent. While there he was selected Superintendent of the Year for Natural Resources Stewardship.

Smeck grew up in Bakersfield and said he is eager to be returning to the region.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks sit side by side in the southern Sierra Nevada. In addition to the giant sequoias, the largest trees by volume on Earth, the parks feature caverns and the highest point in the continental U.S.