PERSON DIES AFTER SUV DANGLES FROM FREEWAY: SAN DIEGO (AP) — Authorities say a woman has died after five people were rescued from a wrecked SUV as it dangled off the side of a San Diego freeway.
The California Highway Patrol says construction workers positioned a forklift Wednesday to keep the mangled SUV from falling then helped remove the four adults and 8-year-old boy who had been on their way to Disneyland.
One of the adults, a 66-year-old woman, died after suffering head trauma.
The CHP says 43-year-old Brian Thomas of San Diego was taking his family to Anaheim in a Toyota Rav4 when it was struck by a car that made an illegal lane change on Interstate 805.
The SUV rolled over several times, slammed into the center divider and nearly dropped into a freeway construction zone 30 feet below.
FAMILY SAVES DOG DRAGGED BY TRUCK ON FREEWAY: VALLEJO (AP) — A Pinole family is being credited with helping to save a dog that was seriously injured after being dragged by a pickup truck on a freeway.
Angie Porter and her 13-year-old son, River, saw the dog dangling from a rope on a black pickup truck on Interstate 780 near Benicia on April 19.
They honked and screamed to get the driver to pull over, but the truck kept going. Porter said eventually the rope broke, and she and her son stopped to check on the dog.
It lost a leg, but is otherwise expected to recover. Officials with the humane society plan to put it up for adoption.
MEASURE WOULD PROTECT POT GROWERS' "RIGHT TO FARM": LAKEPORT, (AP) — Marijuana growers in one Northern California county would be shielded from complaints about noise, dust and smells under a measure slated for an upcoming ballot.
Voters in Lake County will decide in June whether to extend the same protections enjoyed by traditional farmers to medical marijuana growers.
The county's so-called "right-to-farm" ordinance already on the books exempts farmers from nuisance complaints.
The measure sponsored by the Lake County Green Farmers Association, a medical marijuana group, would also allow residents outside city limits to grow up to 12 plants in their backyards.
JELLYFISH-LIKE CREATURES CLOG DIABLO CANYON INTAKE : SAN LUIS OBISPO . (AP) — Jellyfish-like creatures have clogged the seawater intake at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant on California's central coast, forcing operators to reduce power at its Unit 2 reactor.
Pacific Gas & Electric plant spokesman Tom Cuddy said Wednesday that power on the operating reactor was reduced Tuesday night when large numbers of salp entered the beach intake structure.
Salps are small barrel-shaped plankton called tunicates, similar to jellyfish, that can grow to nearly 4 inches in length.
Cuddy says power was ramped down to about 25 percent.
The twin-reactor power plant's Unit 1 reactor was shut down earlier for scheduled refueling, a procedure that usually takes about a month.
Diablo Canyon produces enough electricity to power more than 3 million homes.
NAVY ASKED TO NAME SHIP AFTER HARVEY MILK : SAN DIEGO (AP) — A congressman wants the Navy to name a ship after slain San Francisco gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
Congressman Bob Filner, a San Diego Democrat, says naming a ship after Milk would be a great tribute to Milk, who served as a Navy officer in the 1950s.
Milk was shot to death on Nov. 27, 1978, while serving as a San Francisco supervisor.
In a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Filner says naming a ship after Milk would promote equality in the military after the recent repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
COUGAR'S PAWS SAWED OFF AFTER STRUCK BY CAR: BUELLTON (AP) — Authorities in California say someone sawed off the paws of a mountain lion as apparent souvenirs after it was struck and killed by a car.
The California Highway Patrol was called before dawn Tuesday to investigate a report of a deer on U.S. Route 101 near Buellton in Central California's Santa Barbara County. The responding officer found the deer on one side of the road, and the mutilated cougar.
The patrol says it believes the animal was chasing the deer when it was struck.
State Fish and Game Lt. James Solis said that the mountain lion's front paws were sawed off. He says someone likely plans to make jewelry out of the claws.
It is illegal in California possess mountain lion parts.
