Local News - San Francisco Chronicle

Authorities are working to determine how a San Mateo County man died after he went missing in the Emigrant Wilderness ahead of an early season storm. Rescue teams found the body of 42-year-old Christopher Andrews near Iceland Lake on Monday afternoon, three...

A teenage boy charged as an adult with murder in the shooting death of a 15-year-old girl in an Alameda park last Halloween must stand trial, a judge ruled today. Quochuy "Tony" Tran, 17, of Oakland is accused of firing the .22-caliber shot that killed...

Three people were hospitalized following a two-alarm house fire early today in San Jose, a fire dispatcher said. The fire in the 1100 block of Miller Avenue was reported at 3:15 a.m. and controlled about two hours later. Two people and a dog who were trapped...

San Francisco's public health director has decided to invite additional private ambulance firms to help the Fire Department cover 911 emergency medical calls on the city's streets. The decision by Dr. Mitch Katz to establish a "nonexclusive zone" for...

The 41 Laotian senior citizens who piled onto a bus Sunday for a night of fun at a Colusa County casino entrusted their lives to a bus company whose corporate registration had lapsed, a bus with invalid license plates and identification numbers, and a driver...

Buffy, the German shepherd who was shot and killed after fending off a gunman robbing her owner in East Oakland, has been posthumously named Valor Dog of the Year by the Humane Society of the United States. Buffy was chosen to receive the highest honor in...

A Richmond police officer was taken off life support this morning, three days after he crashed his car on a rain-slicked road while responding to a call. Officer Bradley Moody, 29, died at 2:45 a.m. at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, said Richmond...

The San Francisco Ethics Commission decided Monday to give another chance to a candidate for the Board of Supervisors who was denied public campaign financing because of questionable contributions. The candidate, Wilma Pang, who is running in the hotly...

Nineteen months after the first of its 1,700 workers moved in, the tower of the San Francisco Federal Building is open to the public. The 18-story high-rise near Civic Center includes an open-air "skygarden" punched into the middle of the tower between the...

The Contra Costa County sex-crimes prosecutor arrested on suspicion of rape has posted bail and has been released from jail, authorities said Monday. Deputy District Attorney Michael Gressett, 51, who posted $1 million bail Friday, is scheduled to be...

RESULTS FOLLOW-UP S.F. off-ramp sign: Two months ago, ChronicleWatch reported on what was thought to be a happy ending: Caltrans increased the visibility of an off-ramp sign that warns drivers to slow down. The sign, which says the speed limit is 35 mph, is...

A 15-year-old boy and the stepson of a Berkeley man found shot and killed inside his home in June were arrested today in connection with the slaying, police said. The boy, whose name was not released, turned himself in at about 5 p.m. today in the June 19...

Times are tough just about everywhere, from Wall Street to 14th Street in downtown Oakland, where Mayor Ron Dellums is trying to lead the city out of a $42 million deficit. In the middle of a budget crunch, Dellums faces another challenge that will require...

No matter how you measure it, it seems clear that the turnout in San Francisco for the November election is going to be huge. Every indicator is up. According the San Francisco Department of Elections, voter registration in the city is up over 20,000 just...

A compromise? At City Hall? The Board of Supervisors is considering spending an extra $500,000 to reduce violence in the Mission District, which has faced a wave of violence this year. But Mayor Gavin Newsom wants the supervisors to first work with his office...

They've hosted a speed-dating event, belted out Madonna songs with supporters at a karaoke bar and reaped the benefits of art auctions. They've hobnobbed with teachers at the Plough and Stars bar in the Richmond and with the upper crust at a penthouse nearly...

The federal judge who took control of California's decrepit prison health care system in 2006 made it clear Monday he intends to order the state to pay the first installment of an $8 billion plan to bring the system up to constitutional standards. At the...

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office said today that a San Francisco woman whose body was found in a canal 37 years ago was savagely beaten and stabbed 65 times. But the question of who killed her and why remains a mystery. The woman's identity had remained...

A good pair of binoculars and an even better pair of earplugs might come in handy this week as the giant ships and the noisy jets return for Fleet Week in San Francisco. The window-rattling Blue Angels will be flying for four straight afternoons, with...