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State news briefs
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VALLEJO MAN'S EYEBALL PLUCKED OUT IN ROOMMATE SPAT: VALLEJO  (AP) — A roommate squabble has left a man with only one good eye after a dispute over a loud radio turned violent.

Police arrested Tyrone Shelton at San Francisco General Hospital's psychiatric ward on Thursday, his 36th birthday.

Police arrested Shelton on suspicion of felony aggravated mayhem after he allegedly removed the eyeball of his roommate, a 61-year-old man.

The two men lived at a skilled nursing facility in Vallejo when the fight began on April 19.

Vallejo police Sgt. Kevin Coelho said tempers flared after one of the two men played his radio too loud for the other.

Police said the victim suffered from severe swelling around his eyes, so it took some time for officials to notice he was missing an eye.

CALIF.'S ANNUAL MUSSEL QUARANTINE STARTS TUESDAY: SACRAMENTO . (AP) — California's annual mussel quarantine starts Tuesday.

The six-month quarantine applies to sport harvesting of all mussel species along the California coast, as well as in bays, harbors and estuaries.

The California Department of Public Health says the public is advised not to collect mussels because of a high risk of marine toxins.

Paralytic shellfish poisoning and domoic acid poisoning are linked to microscopic plankton that are concentrated in filter-feeding animals, including bivalve shellfish-like mussels. The overwhelming majority of human cases of PSP illnesses occur between spring and fall.

Commercially harvested shellfish are not included in the quarantine. Commercial shellfish harvesters are subject to strict requirements to ensure that all oysters, clams and mussels entering the marketplace are free of toxins.

SAN DIEGO MAN ARRESTED IN COMPLEX BAR CODE SCAM: SAN DIEGO (AP) — Prosecutors say a San Diego man has been charged in a sophisticated scheme in which he allegedly replaced bar codes on expensive merchandise to make it ring up at lower prices.

Forty-two-year-old Steve Allen Koski was arraigned Thursday on 11 felonies, including grand theft and burglary charges.

Prosecutors say Koski replaced legitimate bar codes on copper wire and expensive merchandise with counterfeit codes that scanned at lower prices at Lowe's and Home Depot stores.

Koski allegedly used this scheme to buy wire for up to $90 and resold it for up to $300 at recycling centers.

He's accused of netting more than $180,000 from the scheme.

CONVICTED MODESTO ARSON KILLER CAN APPEAL: FRESNO  (AP) — A federal magistrate says there's enough evidence for a convicted Modesto arson killer to appeal the jury verdict.

George Souliotes was sentenced to life in prison for setting a 1997 house fire that killed his three tenants, a mother and her 3-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.

Since the conviction, fire scientists have discredited the evidence used to convict Souliotes, and the state has conceded that it no longer can prove the blaze was deliberately set.

The magistrate ruled in Fresno on Thursday that Souliotes can pursue federal appeal of his conviction, saying no reasonable juror would have found him guilty with the evidence now available.

Aa federal judge must now uphold the magistrate's conclusion before the 71-year-old Souliotes can move forward with his appeal.

BOY SCOUTS APPEAL ORDER TO SURRENDER FILES: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Boy Scouts of America has appealed a Santa Barbara judge's order to surrender decades of confidential files detailing alleged child sex abuse.

A negligence lawsuit filed on behalf of a then-13-year-old Scout who was sexually abused by a volunteer leader nearly five years ago say the files will expose a culture of hidden sex crimes against kids.

A Santa Barbara judge in January ordered all files since 1991 must be turned over to the boy's lawyers. There's a May 9 deadline.

Boy Scouts of America asked the California 2nd District Court of Appeal this week to reverse the judge's ruling.

They say the ineligible volunteer files contain private, unproven allegations that are designed to keep suspected molesters out of Scouting.

PHOTO OF AERIAL FIGHT OVER FISH WINS STATE AWARD : SACRAMENTO (AP) — The California Department of Fish and Game has chosen a dramatic photograph of two birds of prey locked in aerial battle over a fish as its "wildlife photograph of the year."

The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/IdUDab) that Lyle Madeson shot the image in April at Clear Lake State Park, about 60 miles north of Santa Rosa.

He was photographing an osprey flying straight toward him with a fish in its talons and happened to capture the moment when a juvenile red-tailed hawk swooped in to wrestle the catch away.

The 63-year-old amateur photographer, who is a building contractor, did not realize the moment he had captured until he looked through his images. Madeson's prize includes $200, a pair of Nikon binoculars and a yearlong state parks pass.

CONSOLATION PRIZE: SANTORUM HEADS TO JAY LENO SHOW: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republican Rick Santorum lost his bid to become president this year, but he's earned a trip to Jay Leno's couch.

"The Tonight Show" announced Friday that the former Pennsylvania senator will appear on Leno's Burbank stage on May 8.

It will be his first appearance on the NBC late-night program.

Santorum pulled out of the GOP primary earlier this month, clearing the way for Mitt Romney to claim victory in the battle for the nomination to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama.

LOST DOLPHIN WANDERS INTO CALIF. WETLANDS : HUNTINGTON BEACH (AP) — A dolphin wandered into a narrow channel in a coastal wetlands on Friday, circling in shallow waters as crowds grew along the banks, TV helicopters flew overhead and marine animal experts considered how to return it to the ocean.

The 7-foot-long, black-and-white common dolphin was spotted in a channel of the Bolsa Chica wetlands. The adult dolphin was swimming in tight circles near a road.

A swimmer and two lifeguards on paddleboards entered the water to test the dolphin's reaction and it would not allow them to approach.

A decision was made to let the healthy, strong and fast dolphin try to find its own way out during a high tide, said Dean Gomersall, animal care supervisor at the nonprofit Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

Trying to capture such a dolphin could be dangerous to the animal and injure rescuers, he said.

ARREST AFTER SAN JOSE STANDOFF FOLLOWING STABBING: SAN JOSE (AP) — San Jose police have arrested a man after a nine-hour standoff that followed a fatal stabbing.

Police spokesman Jose Garcia says the man — identified only as a 51-year-old — surrendered to officers at his home shortly before 11 a.m. Friday.

The standoff began after officers discovered a man fatally stabbed outside the home.

Police say they were alerted to the stabbing victim by a 911 call from the residence at 1:46 a.m. But the man who was arrested refused to cooperate with investigators who arrived at his home and locked himself inside.

Police believed there may have been guns there, prompting the SWAT team to be called in.