California News

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell said Wednesday that largely has been a matter of luck, with the hot windy weather known as "red flag" days not lining up with the lighting strikes that start most fires, particularly in California.

Sheriff's officials in Central California say a house fire that claimed the life of a woman was started by gang members who mistakenly thought a gang dropout was there.

Major water districts in California are quietly considering using property taxes - and possibly raising them without a vote of the public - to help fund Gov. Jerry Brown's $25 billion plan to build two massive tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

During the last four decades, no California political issue has burned more intensely than capital punishment, but it may have ended with a whimper, rather than with a bang, last week.

THIS DAY IN 2011: Singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her home in London. She was 27. Her death was attributed to accidental alcohol poisoning.

Firefighters are on edge as a strong high pressure system moves over Northern California on Wednesday, delivering gusty winds that could flare up fires smoldering after thousands of lightning strikes in the past week.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it is mulling its legal options after a planning commission in a north San Diego suburb rejected plans for a 96-bed shelter designed for unaccompanied immigrant children who are arrested by the Border Patrol.

A Central California company is recalling specific lots of its fresh peaches, plums, nectarines and pluots sold nationwide over concerns of possible listeria contamination.

As a native Californian who was born in Oakland, raised in the San Fernando Valley, schooled in Berkeley and now living in Venice, I'd like to say one thing to Timothy Draper, the Silicon Valley kajillionaire pushing the idiotic breakup of the Golden State: Recently, Draper announced he is on track to gather enough signatures to get his ... (more)

Max Steinberg posa durante un viaje a Israel. El soldado era miembro del ejA©rcito israelA y perdiA3 la vida el 20 de julio de 2014 en Gaza.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law Monday reducing the maximum penalty for misdemeanors by one day - a change expected to significantly reduce the number of immigrants in the country legally who are deported for lesser crimes.

It was another balmy, breezy summer day Monday, with a high in San Jose of 79 degrees, far below the record temperature of 97. Oakland was even cooler at 74, and as usual, San Francisco's high of 70 was cool enough to bring out jackets.

It's about to get more difficult to go unnoticed if your sprinklers are watering the street more than your lawn.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill aimed at diversifying California's health exchange board by expanding the eligibility criteria for members.

California's chance to keep a lid on some of the nation's highest gas prices and join in the spoils of a domestic oil production boom is threatened by quickly growing opposition to a rail terminal in Washington state.

It was nearly show time as designer Francesca Aiello snapped pictures backstage of models in her latest swimwear designs.

The grim story of a 35-year-old man, recently returned to an Illinois prison on a probation violation, represents much of what is wrong with the criminal justice system and its de facto role as repository for the mentally ill, law enforcement officials say.

Jaime Ramos, the only surviving suspect, could face a death sentence with the additional allegations that the three people were killed during kidnappings and robbery, Joaquin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Ron Freitas said.

This time of year, May Vu's farm in Sanger should be carpeted with blooming flowers and a bounty of vegetables.

Katie Fyhrie, 25, begins her day recently by harvesting nectarines with Cloverleaf farm owner Emma Torbert, left, on a stone fruit orchard at the Collins Farm in Davis.