The Volkswagen Bus’ long, strange trip from hippie van to hot collectible
Vintage Volkswagen Buses have become hot collectors’ items, fetching record prices. But some California fans fear the cars may lose their free-spirit mystique.
Struggling districts profit by approving charter schools with little oversight
The superintendent’s plan was born of necessity. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, as tax revenue plummeted, small school districts across California quickly felt the pain. Many were already lean, where administrators did the work of two or three, and students were counted in tens, not thousands….
Earthquake: 3.2 quake strikes near Mercuryville, Calif.
A shallow magnitude 3.2 earthquake was reported Wednesday night two miles from Mercuryville, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 11:34 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 0 miles. According to the USGS, the epicenter was 13 miles from Healdsburg, Calif., 14 miles…
Behind the story: One writer’s eventual embrace of the red-hot VW Bus
When my future wife told me about a decade ago that I should buy a VW Bus, I laughed. I had grown up enamored of classic cars: “boats” (long, sleek models like the Impalas and Cadillacs of the 1960s) and “bombs” (gigantic big band-era Chevy Fleetlines and Lincoln Continentals) and late-’70s Ford…
Plan to remove gray wolves from Endangered Species Act sparks battle
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and environmentalists are at war over the agency’s latest plan to strip gray wolves of their federal protections and turn management of the often-reviled predators over to states and tribes. “If the agency’s proposal gets finalized, we will see them in court,”…
Trump pledged to end the HIV epidemic. San Francisco could get there first
President Trump pledged in his State of the Union speech to “eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years.” San Francisco may beat that timeline. It’s on track to be the first city to eliminate new HIV infections – or at least come close.
Video shows L.A. Deputy Caren Carl Mandoyan trying to break into woman’s home, leading to his firing
The deputy crouched down in front of the woman’s sliding glass door, wedging a metal tool in its frame to pop it loose. He stopped after glancing up, startled to see the woman recording video of him from inside her apartment. In another instance, the deputy is seen wielding a broomstick on the…
Motorcyclist throws a punch in Ortega Highway road-rage incident, ends up injured
A motorcyclist was injured Wednesday, March 27, when he threw a punch at a car and then — not paying enough attention to the road — failed to make a turn on Ortega Highway near the Candy Store, the California Highway Patrol said. The incident happened about 4:50 p.m. on Highway 74, west of the…
Man awarded $80 million in lawsuit claiming Roundup causes cancer
By SUDHIN THANAWALA SAN FRANCISCO — A U.S. jury on Wednesday awarded more than $80 million in damages to a California man who blamed Roundup weed killer for his cancer, in a case that his attorneys say could help determine the fate of hundreds of similar lawsuits. Edwin Hardeman proved that Roundup’s design was defective,…
Police search for Santa Ana man suspected of lewd acts with underage relatives
Police continue to search for a Santa Ana man suspected of sexually assaulting two children, and asked for the public’s help on Wednesday, March 27. A relative of Omar Ricardo Baron, 48, of Santa Ana confronted him on Nov. 2 and accused the suspect of committing lewd acts with two underage family members before notifying…