REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - San Mateo County has taken a big step toward putting plastic carryout bags on the trash heap of history.
NEW YORK (AP) - Samsung Electronics Co. has been running ads touting its Galaxy S III phone as its "next big thing." Now it has something bigger.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - An expert has determined that a surfer was killed off California's Central Coast by a 15- to 16-foot great white shark.
ROSSMOOR, Calif. (AP) - Orange County authorities say a 28-year-old woman was repeatedly stabbed while she was jogging at night and survived the attack.
WETMORE, Colo. (AP) - A wildfire that forced the evacuation of hundreds of people in and around a small southern Colorado town has damaged at least 14 homes, authorities said Wednesday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A retired commander from the Los Angeles Police Department has been tapped to head the police force of Los Angeles International Airport.
CHICAGO (AP) - People who collapse from cardiac arrest in poor black neighborhoods are half as likely to get CPR from family members at home or bystanders on the street as those in better-off white neighborhoods, according to a study that found the reasons go beyond race.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a suspected bank robber is behind bars after Redwood City police followed a trail of stolen money to arrest him.
DOWNEY, Calif. (AP) - Five people were shot and three of them died Wednesday in connected attacks at a business and residence in a Los Angeles suburb, police said.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Two California congressmen blasted the National Park Service on Wednesday for letting a wildfire burn despite extreme conditions last summer, a decision that conflicted with the practices of other state and federal agencies.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Minnesota doctor took offense when a patient's son posted critical remarks about him on some rate-your-doctor websites, including a comment by a nurse who purportedly called the physician "a real tool."
LONDON (AP) - The child abuse scandal that has enveloped one of Britain's most respected news organizations is now hitting one of America's, as the incoming president of The New York Times is on the defensive about his final days as head of the BBC.
NEW YORK (AP) - Scientists in Oregon have created embryos with genes from one man and two women, using a provocative technique that could someday be used to prevent babies from inheriting certain rare incurable diseases.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Just as Mitt Romney and other Republicans had cut into the Democrats' advantage with female voters, a tea party-backed Senate candidate's awkward remark - that if rape leads to pregnancy it's "something God intended" - has propelled the emotional issue of abortion back to the political forefront. It's put GOP candidates in tight races, from the presidential candidate on down, on the defensive.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Britney Spears' ex-manager described from the witness stand Wednesday a scene of domestic warfare, saying the superstar's father chased him around a kitchen, punched him and threatened his life.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A San Diego man faces three felony charges in connection with the accidental shooting death of a 10-year-old boy.
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - Mexican authorities have arrested a former University of Southern California professor who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in the resort city of Playa del Carmen.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - The Legislature's Democratic leaders are pledging to address a budget bill that threatens public access to information held by local governments, but to do so in different ways.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The commission that sets the pay for California lawmakers and statewide elected officials such as the governor and attorney general voted Wednesday to restore a 5 percent pay cut it made to salaries last year as state employees faced furloughs.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A legislative committee has recommended that the Senate confirm Gov. Jerry Brown's choice to lead California's prison system.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The public is being asked to keep eyes to the skies for an exotic stork that flew the coop at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - HBO and James Gandolfini's managers say the actor famous for his role in "The Sopranos" has died in Italy.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Immigrant advocates have filed a lawsuit alleging that immigration agents are filing paperwork to keep arrestees in custody longer without investigating whether they're in the country illegally.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - As the whir of the subway echoed throughout Union Station and crowds of passengers trickled in for their morning commute, Los Angeles' transit officials unveiled a new development to deter riders from evading fares: locked turnstiles that can only be accessed using a TAP card.
UNION CITY, Calif. (AP) - A pit bull mix that bit and killed a six-year-old boy in Northern California has been euthanized.
DAVIS, Calif. (AP) - A 16-year-old Northern California boy once praised as a hero for saving his dad's life has been charged with stabbing a couple to death at their home, a newspaper reported.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police say they've arrested three panhandlers for investigation of the fatal stabbing of a young woman who was taking photographs on Hollywood's star-lined "Walk of Fame."
DETROIT (AP) - Car buyers increasingly want high-tech features like voice recognition and navigation. But they're not very forgiving of the car company when those systems fail.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Federal authorities have charged 18 people with involvement in an illegal gambling ring they say spanned from California to Peru and used violence against customers with outstanding debts.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - As the West battles one catastrophic wildfire after another, the federal government is spending less and less on its main program for preventing blazes in the first place.