TINY PUPPY BORN IN CA COULD BE WORLD'S SMALLEST: SACRAMENTO (AP) — A puppy named after one of the world's biggest pop stars could set the world's record for tiniest dog.
Animal rescuers in Northern California say the female Dachshund mix, named Beyonce, was so small at birth that she could fit into a spoon. At two weeks, she's about the size of a business card.
The Grace Foundation, based in El Dorado County, says animal control picked up Beyonce's pregnant mother, who gave birth to a litter of five on March 8.
Beyonce was the last one delivered, and was born without a heartbeat. Veterinarians managed to revive her through chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth rescucitation.
The foundation says she'll be ready for adoption in about two weeks.
Meanwhile, it has submitted an application to the Guinness Book of World Records for world's smallest dog.
BODY IN CAR SUBMERGED BEHIND MERCED COUNTY DAM: LOS BANES (AP) — Authorities in Merced County say they've found a body in a car that may have been submerged in water behind a dam for two years.
Water levels at the Los Banos Detention Dam receded recently, making it possible to see a four-wheel drive vehicle in the water.
A sheriff's dive team was called in Friday after it was determined that the car had been missing since May 2010.
Divers found the remains of a body in the passenger side of the vehicle. There's no word on that person's identity.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA DELIVERY MAN ATTACKED BY NINJAS: WEST COVINA, Calif. (AP) — West Covina police say two people in ninja costumes robbed a medical marijuana delivery man but it's not clear how much money or marijuana was taken.
Police Lt. Alan Henley said the victim had just made a delivery to a patient on South Sunset Avenue and was headed to his car when the pair confronted him and chased him with batons.
Henley says the victim, in his 40s, was scared and dropped a bag containing marijuana and money and the attackers took it.
The lieutenant says he knows of no other ninja-style thefts recently.
ASSEMBLY BILL CLARIFIES REDEVELOPMENT WIND-DOWN: SACRAMENTO (AP) — The state Assembly has passed a bill giving local governments some of the responsibilities formerly held by community redevelopment agencies and clarifying how the agencies should be dissolved.
Gov. Jerry Brown eliminated about 400 redevelopment agencies run by cities and counties last year.
AB1585 passed 56-7 on Monday. It would allow agencies to make good on some previous obligations and allow local governments to use redevelopment money to build affordable housing.
The bill, introduced by Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez of Los Angeles, also cleans up technical issues involved in winding down the agencies. They had become important sources of revenue for local governments.
The League of California Cities has called the bill a step in the right direction. The legislation now moves to the Senate as an urgency measure.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS SUE FEDS OVER CA SOLAR PROJECT: RIVERSIDE (AP) — Three environmental groups have sued the federal government over its handling of a solar project in the Mojave Desert, saying it will harm the desert tortoise and its habitat.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court by the Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club against the Interior Department.
The groups want the Calico solar project moved to another site and out of desert tortoise habitat.
They say the proposed project's location will harm some half a dozen sensitive animals and plants.
JIMMY KIMMEL TO HOST 64TH PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel just got a prime-time gig: Host of the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards.
The star and executive producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will host the Emmy Awards ceremony on Sept. 23 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
"I hope to be able to do for the Emmys this year what Eddie Murphy did for the Oscars," Kimmel joked, referring to the comic actor who pulled out as host of this year's Academy Awards. This is Kimmel's first time hosting the Emmys.
Kimmel's namesake show is in its 10th season on ABC. He previously hosted the American Music Awards and the ESPY Awards and is set to host the White House Correspondents' dinner next month.
18-MONTH-OLD GIRL KILLED IN BUS BENCH CRASH: EL MONTE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a pickup truck plowed into a bus bench in El Monte over the weekend, killing an 18-month-old girl.
The girl's grandmother and the woman's 12-year-old son were injured in the Saturday afternoon crash.
The family was sitting at a bus stop at around 2 p.m. when a GMC pickup jumped the curb and struck the bench before hitting a power pole.
The girl died at a hospital. Her 36-year-old grandmother was hospitalized in critical condition and the boy was in stable condition.
Police say the 59-year-old driver was trying to park in a nearby lot when for some reason the truck accelerated. Lt. Richard Cano says the El Monte man cooperated with police and no crime is immediately suspected.
ARBITRON TO PAY $400,000 OVER RACE-BASED SUIT: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Radio audience ratings company Arbitron Inc. says it is paying $400,000 to settle a case in California in which it was accused of under-representing black and Hispanic listeners in its surveys in the state's largest cities.
Lawyers for the state and the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco said Arbitron's "Portable People Meters" system "dramatically" under-recruited from those populations when it began in 2008.
Arbitron found participants mainly by calling land-line telephones, a process that tends to under-represent minority populations.
The government attorneys said the shortfall of black and Latino participants resulted in a sharp drop in advertising rates and revenue for many radio stations that serve black and Hispanic communities.
The settlement announced Monday mandates that Arbitron change its methods by December to count minority listeners more accurately.
2-YEAR-OLD HURT IN OXNARD PIT BULL ATTACK: OXNARD (AP) — Authorities say a pit bull attack in Ventura County has left a 2-year-old boy with major facial injuries.
The Ventura Star says the boy was at a friend's house in Oxnard Sunday afternoon and had food in his hand when the dog attacked him.
Police Cmdr. Ron Whitney says the dog's owner threw it out of the house. It ran away and hasn't been found.
Authorities say the boy suffered facial injuries but they are not life-threatening.
