A lawsuit accusing a Bay Area flight-planning company of aiding an alleged CIA program of kidnapping and torturing terror suspects threatens national security and is too sensitive to discuss fully in a public courtroom, an Obama administration attorney argued... Full Story »
A jury has deadlocked in the murder trial of a teenager who was the youngest person ever charged as an adult in San Mateo County. Jurors told Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach on Monday that they were hopelessly deadlocked in the case of Josue Raul Orozco... Full Story »
A woman in an Alameda housing development for low-income residents and people who struggled to escape street life has been found strangled in her home, the city's second homicide in less than two weeks, police said Tuesday. A neighbor found Tonya Avery Foti,... Full Story »
A man shot and killed in Richmond was identified today as 19-year-old Kyle Bratton. Bratton was shot near the corner of South 17th Street and Maine Avenue by a man who walked up to him and opened fire at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, said Richmond police Sgt.... Full Story »
A small earthquake has shaken a section of Central California's Inyo County. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 3.1-magnitude temblor struck at about 1:52 a.m. Tuesday, and its epicenter was about 6 miles southeast of Keeler. Keeler is about 200 mile... Full Story »
Scientists in Earthquake Country are seeking volunteers in Northern California to join a groundbreaking seismic detection network with automated instruments to record and transmit earthquake information as the temblors strike. They are also asking thousands... Full Story »
Drought, curtailed water exports from the delta and overzealous well pumping during the past six years have depleted Central Valley aquifers by enough to fill Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the nation, according to new satellite data from NASA. The... Full Story »
San Francisco would become the first city in the country to require that cell phone retailers label the devices with the level of radiation they emit under a controversial proposal being discussed at the Department of the Environment and endorsed by Mayor... Full Story »
San Francisco voters may soon have the opportunity to decide major changes to the city's pension and retiree health care systems - both of which have seen their costs skyrocket as the city grapples with consecutive years of major budget deficits. Supervisor... Full Story »
Carrying two Christmas packages bound for her nephews in Texas and Switzerland, Carolyn Tsai took her place at the end of a line that spilled outside the post office in San Francisco's Noe Valley onto the sidewalk Monday afternoon. Tsai didn't know she was... Full Story »
If you build it, they will come. That's the latest pitch from Oakland city officials who last week identified three new sites - and one old one - in a bid to keep the Oakland Athletics from leaving town. The city's proposal was made in the midst of A's... Full Story »
Retirement for Kenneth Harris wasn't really retirement. For 40 years, he co-owned a string of popular Marin County pharmacies used by everyone in the area from the late musician Jerry Garcia to roving gardeners, but when he shut the last of them in 1989, Mr.... Full Story »
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to take its first look at workplace privacy in more than 20 years, granting review in the case of a California city whose police department read one of its officers' text messages. A federal appeals court ruled in June... Full Story »
Not all members of the Silver Bells - a rock band made up of hand bell players from the Home Sweet Home senior care facility in Colma - are as old as 76. That's the youngest one. Of course, at that age you can't shake your hand bells for an entire show.... Full Story »
San Francisco firefighters, a potent political force in the city, could be forced to work more hours, and Muni drivers may have to negotiate their salaries instead of relying on a formula enmeshed in the city charter that makes them among the highest paid in... Full Story »
Berkeley's city council sent a landmark decision back to the drawing board last week after the building's owner said the structure was designed by a friend of Bernard Maybeck's, not Maybeck himself. The council voted 6-2 to return the issue to the Landmark... Full Story »
A 14-year-old boy was charged Monday with raping a 12-year-old girl in the stairwell of an El Cerrito middle school, and the principal and vice principal have been placed on administrative leave while police and school officials investigate the alleged crime.... Full Story »
A former San Francisco city engineer accused of hijacking the computer network he built went on trial Monday, with prosecutors portraying Terry Childs as a power-mad techie and the defense calling him a misunderstood workaholic obsessed with system security.... Full Story »
Courts on two fronts looked for boundaries Monday on an important question of federal immigration law: What crimes are so serious that they require deportation for any noncitizen who commits them? A federal appeals court ruled in a case from Solano County... Full Story »
A driver was struck and killed by a light-rail train after turning into its path in Milpitas on Saturday evening, authorities said. The collision occurred about 7 p.m. Saturday when the motorist made a left turn into the train near Tasman Drive and Interstate... Full Story »
While the poor economy has slowed the ambitious redevelopment of Oakland's Jack London Square, questions remain about whether the waterfront district can become a regional food and entertainment mecca even in good times. The premiere of Jack London Market,... Full Story »
A car filled with the personal possessions of a woman who was moving was found ablaze in Richmond early Monday, in what could be the latest in a series of vehicle arsons in west Contra Costa County. The Toyota Camry was found on fire on the 200 block of... Full Story »
Democratic Assemblyman John Pérez emerged as the winner last week after a bruising battle for leadership of the state Assembly, a fight that had no shortage of contestants. But as the state heads into another year of staggering budget deficits and difficult... Full Story »
There is one consolation for Mayor Gavin Newsom now that he's dropped out of the governor's race - he won't have to take a $72,477-a-year pay cut. Newsom, who earns $246,464 as mayor of San Francisco, would have seen his pay drop to $173,987 if he had won the... Full Story »
Rose Kaufman, an accomplished film writer, died Monday in San Francisco after a four-year struggle with cancer. She was 70. Her death ended a unique family collaboration in the film business. Her husband, Philip, is a writer and director ("The Unbearable... Full Story »
A lynx is released in Villafranca de Cordoba, southern Spain. AFP/Cristina Quicler
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