TEACHER FIRED AFTER FIGHT WITH FEMALE STUDENT: FRESNO (AP) — An instructor at a California college says he has been fired after being accused of slamming a female student to the ground during a fight.
Brian Calhoun, a longtime instructor at Fresno City College, sent out an e-mail with the news on Tuesday.
Calhoun's attorney, Roger Nuttall, said his client had support from colleagues and students, but not the powers that be.
Calhoun and 19-year-old Kevynn Gomez got into a fight at the college on March 22.
Gomez told police she cursed at the 69-year-old Calhoun because he was being rude and punched him after he pinned her. Police say Calhoun then slammed Gomez onto the ground.
SEARCH EXPANDS FOR SUSPECT AND MISSING CALIF. TEEN: LAKESIDE (AP) — A man suspected of abducting a 16-year-old girl after setting his house ablaze with the girl's mother and possibly her younger brother inside may have booby-trapped his car with homemade explosives, police said Thursday as a search expanded to four states, Mexico and Canada.
Meanwhile, police said an "unusual infatuation" with the teenager might have driven suspect James Lee DiMaggio, 40, to flee with her from his burned home on the California-Mexico border.
"That is kind of a working theory, that it may be something of a motivator," San Diego County Sheriff's Capt. Duncan Fraser said. "It's definitely something that we're looking at."
Evidence found in the rubble of the home suggested that DiMaggio may have fled with explosives, Fraser said, declining to elaborate on what was discovered. Investigators worried that DiMaggio might abandon his blue Nissan Versa after rigging it to explode.
"In the event that someone comes across the car, they need to use caution," Fraser said.
On Sunday night, authorities found the body of 44-year-old Christina Anderson when they extinguished flames at DiMaggio's rural home. A child's body also was discovered as they sifted through rubble in Boulevard, a tiny town 65 miles east of San Diego.
The body may be that of 8-year-old Ethan Anderson. Fraser said it could take several days to identify the badly burned remains. Investigators were unable to extract DNA.
A WANTS BB GUNS PAINTED TO AVOID POLICE SHOOTINGS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles wants air rifles, BB and pellet guns to be painted in bright colors in the wake of two police shootings.
Supporters think it could help officers distinguish between those weapons and the real thing in a tense confrontation.
The Los Angeles Daily News says the City Council on Wednesday ordered drafting of the measure. Two shootings three years ago involved police and people armed with a BB gun and an air pistol.
APPEALS COURT REJECTS 254-YEAR SENTENCE FOR RAPIST: LONG BEACH (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected the virtual life sentence for a Southern California serial rapist.
The court in San Francisco ruled Wednesday that Roosevelt Moore shouldn't have been given a collective sentence of 254 years because he was only 16 at the time of the crimes.
Moore was convicted of rape, kidnapping, robbery and other crimes for attacking four women in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach in 1991.
A panel of the Ninth District Court of Appeals said federal law prohibits giving juveniles life sentences without chance of parole in non-murder cases. It concluded his sentence was unconstitutional.
The case will be returned to a lower federal court for resentencing.
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CALIF. BILL WOULD LET NONCITIZENS HELP VOTERS: SACRAMENTO (AP) — Certain immigrants who are not U.S. citizens could serve as poll workers in California under legislation heading to Gov. Jerry Brown.
As many as five noncitizens could volunteer in a precinct under AB817 by Democratic Assemblyman Rob Bonta of Alameda. Those poll workers must be permanent U.S. residents who entered the country legally and meet all voting requirements except citizenship.
Bonta says allowing immigrants to serve as poll workers would increase the number of bilingual volunteers who could help voters. A staff analysis of the bill says more than 2.6 million eligible California voters are not fully proficient in English.
The Assembly passed the bill Thursday, 48-22.
Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly of Twin Peaks opposed it, saying noncitizen poll workers would undermine confidence in state elections.
POLICE KILL ARMED MAN AFTER LONG STANDOFF: SUNNYVALE (AP) — Police in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Sunnyvale have shot and killed a man after a nearly two-hour standoff that began when they say he called police to tell them he had killed someone.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that officers also found the body of a woman inside the home where the shooting took place Thursday morning.
Capt. Dave Pitts says the incident occurred after a SWAT team that made numerous attempts to contact the man, approached the home and shot him after he apparently charged at them armed with a gun.
The man died at the scene.
Police have not released the names of the man and the woman or said how they may have known each other.
The incident remains under investigation.
BILL ALLOWS BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR YOUTH COACHES: SACRAMENTO . (AP) — Youth sports programs would be allowed to run criminal background checks on potential volunteer coaches under legislation that cleared a final vote Thursday and now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown.
The bill's authors, Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, and Assemblyman Brian Maienschein, R-San Diego, said AB465 will help ensure that children who participate in community sports leagues are protected from abusive or violent individuals.
In addition to requesting background checks, youth sports programs also could seek subsequent arrest information on volunteer coaches from the state Department of Justice.
An analysis of the bill says such background checks are already required for sports coaches in public schools. Some national youth sports organizations also already require volunteers to undergo background checks.
In a statement, Maienschein said the bill "will go a long way toward assuring parents that extensive steps are being taken to protect their children."
