KINGS BEACH — Sheriff's deputies in Northern California have helped a massive dumpster-diving bear get out of a sticky situation. Placer County sheriff's deputies found the bear trapped Monday in a locked trash bin in Kings Beach, on Lake Tahoe's northern shore. Video the agency posted to Facebook shows a...
As California Spends Billions on High-Needs Students, Calls Grow for More Oversight
Seven years after California started pumping billions of dollars into schools with the neediest students — an attempt to narrow a chronic academic achievement gap — a new state audit has found that the state’s landmark school funding law isn’t adequately ensuring that targeted money is actually going to the disadvantaged students...
Paradise Rebuilds but Is It Any Safer a Year After Wildfire?
PARADISE — There was "no way in hell" Victoria Sinclaire was rebuilding in Paradise. She'd thought she was going to die during the six hours it took her to escape the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The town where she'd raised her family was nearly wiped out,...
California DMV Revealed Private Information on 3,200 Drivers
SACRAMENTO — California's Department of Motor Vehicles improperly disclosed private information to seven other government agencies on more than 3,000 people involved in some type of investigation as suspects or witnesses, officials said Tuesday. The department was sending letters Tuesday to the 3,200 people after determining that they are not...
Sheriff: Murder Suspects Who Escaped Salinas Jail Arrested
SAN FRANCISCO — Two murder suspects who escaped from jail in Salinas over the weekend were arrested by federal officials, authorities said Wednesday. The Monterey County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet that Jonathan Salazar, 20, and Santos Fonseca, 21, were arrested by Customs and Border Protection officials. It says...
Study: Alien Grasses Are Making More Frequent US Wildfires
WASHINGTON — For much of the United States, invasive grass species are making wildfires more frequent, especially in fire-prone California, a new study finds. Twelve non-native species act as "little arsonist grasses," said study co-author Bethany Bradley, a University of Massachusetts professor of environmental conservation. Wherever the common Mediterranean grass invades, including...
WATCH: Video Shows Worker Saving Man as Speeding Train Approached
SAN FRANCISCO — A transit supervisor in Oakland is being hailed as a hero after pulling a man up from train tracks and away from a speeding train. BART released surveillance video showing John O'Connor spring to action Sunday after a man falls into the tracks at a crowded Coliseum station...
Walters: Pension Costs Hitting Home — Hard
Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District came into being 14 years ago when four small fire departments serving farms and small towns east of Modesto merged. The district now flirts with insolvency, a case study in how rapidly growing costs for pensions and other employee benefits are clobbering local governments. Four...
California Illegal Pot Seizures Top $1.5 Billion in Value
LOS ANGELES — Authorities seized more than $1.5 billion worth of illegally grown marijuana plants in California this year as part of an annual eradication program, officials said Monday. The raids netted more than 950,000 plants from nearly 350 growing operation sites this year through the "Campaign Against Marijuana Planting"...
Apple Commits $2.5B to Combat California Housing Crisis
CUPERTINO — Apple has committed $2.5 billion to ease California's housing crisis, eclipsing similar pledges by fellow Silicon Valley giants Google and Facebook to address a lack of affordable housing in the region they call home. Apple's pledge Monday includes a $1 billion fund to build new homes for households...