Archive By Section - Signal AP
Heavy rain, snow in Northern California forecast
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Heavy rain, pounding waves and plenty of snow in the mountains were all in the forecast as Northern Californians braced for a weekend of wintry weather and potential delays in holiday travel.
4.0-magnitude quake hits San Diego County desert
BORREGO SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - A magnitude-4.0 earthquake has hit the San Diego County desert but there are no reports of damage or injuries.
Annual bird counts give scientists climate clues
MAD ISLAND, Texas (AP) - Armed with flashlights, recordings of bird calls, a small notebook and a stash of candy bars, scientist Rich Kostecke embarked on an annual 24-hour Christmastime count of birds along the Texas Gulf Coast. Yellow rail. Barn owl. Bittern. Crested Cara-Cara. Kostecke rattled off the names and scribbled them in his notebook.
Boeing engineers use spuds to improve in-air Wi-Fi
CHICAGO (AP) - If the wireless Internet connection during your holiday flight seems more reliable than it used to, you could have the humble potato to thank.
Calif. official says new payroll system in chaos
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A $371 million overhaul of California's government payroll system is in chaos and in danger of collapsing, the state controller's office warned in a letter demanding fixes from the contractor.
Urban advocates say new gun control talk overdue
For years, voices have cried in the urban wilderness: We need to talk about gun control. Yet the guns blazed on. It took a small-town slaughter for gun control to become a political priority. Now, decades' worth of big-city arguments against easy access to guns are finally being heard, because an unstable young man invaded an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., with a military-style assault rifle and 30-bullet magazines. Twenty young children and six adults ...
Raley's says union workers ratify new contract
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Officials at grocery chain Raley's say union workers have ratified a new labor contract.
Leagues poised to challenge NJ over sports betting
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA are poised to move forward with their legal fight over New Jersey's plans to allow sports gambling.
Conn. town in mourning inundated with gifts, money
NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) - Peter Leone was busy making deli sandwiches and working the register at his Newtown General Store when he got a phone call from Alaska. It was a woman who wanted to give him her credit card number.
Naomi Watts shared 'Impossible' with family
LOS ANGELES (AP) - To play a mother torn from her husband and sons by the 2004 tsunami, Naomi Watts sure wasn't going Method.
Court blocks California law banning gay therapy
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Friday put the brakes on a first-of-its-kind California law that bans therapy aimed at turning gay minors straight.
Parents hesitant about NRA armed schools proposal
MIAMI (AP) - The nation's largest gun-rights lobby called Friday for the placement of an armed police officer in every school, but parents and educators questioned how safe such a move would keep kids, whether it would be economically feasible and how it would alter student life. Their reactions ranged from supportive to disgusted.
CA prison officials revamp isolation cells policy
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Prison officials tossed convicted killer Todd Ashker into California's notorious Security Housing Unit 25 years ago after "validating" him as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang.
Interstate 5 in NorCal open, but with restrictions
YREKA, Calif. (AP) - A section of Interstate 5 in far Northern California that was closed because of snow is open again - but only to drivers with snow chains on their tires.
Obama seeks scaled-down 'fiscal cliff' agreement
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has scaled back his ambitions for a sweeping budget bargain with Republicans. Instead, he's calling for a limited measure sufficient to prevent the government from careening off the "fiscal cliff" in January by extending tax cuts for most taxpayers and forestalling a painful set of agency budget cuts.
Articles by Section - Signal AP
Cash can bribe dieters to lose weight, study finds
Willpower apparently can be bought. The chance to win or lose $20 a month enticed dieters in a yearlong study to drop an average of 9 pounds - four times more weight than others who were not offered dough to pass up the doughnuts.
Facebook adds more personal touches to News Feed
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) - Facebook is trying to breathe new life into its social network with a redesign of its News Feed.
U.S. vows to defend itself against North Korea threats
WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. says it will take necessary steps to defend itself and its allies after North Korea threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States.
Efforts to avoid gov't shutdown move to Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) - Efforts to stave off a late March government shutdown shifted to the Senate after House Republicans swiftly passed legislation to keep federal agencies running, while also easing some effects of $85 billion in budget cuts.
Russian ballet star confesses he agreed to attack
MOSCOW (AP) - Pale and haggard after hours of questioning, a leading Bolshoi dancer told a Moscow court that he gave his blessing to an attack on the ballet's artistic director but never imagined that the assailant would go as far as to throw acid in his face.
Senator launches lengthy debate to block CIA pick
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican critic of the Obama administration's drone policy mounted a self-described filibuster Wednesday to block Senate confirmation of John Brennan to take over as director of the CIA.
10 Things to Know for Thursday
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Thursday:
Storm strikes Mid-Atlantic; 250K lose power
WASHINGTON (AP) - A winter storm marched into the Mid-Atlantic region Wednesday, dumping nearly two feet of snow in some places and knocking out power to about 250,000 homes and businesses. It largely spared the nation's capital, which was expecting much worse and had all but shut down.
Man held without bail in NY couple's deadly crash
NEW YORK (AP) - A man suspected of fleeing the scene of a grisly New York crash that killed a pregnant woman and her husband was arrested at a Pennsylvania convenience store on Wednesday after a friend arranged his surrender, and he was ordered held without bail.
Judge grants restraining order on Dorner admirer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has issued a restraining order against an admirer of Christopher Dorner who blogged threats against the county's Child Support Services Department while the ex-cop was on his murderous rampage.
Cops: No charges after home's refusal to give CPR
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) - Police said Wednesday that no criminal charges will be filed after a care worker's attention-grabbing refusal to perform CPR on a resident of a Central California independent-living facility.
Senate Republicans block vote on Obama's CIA pick
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican critic of the Obama administration's drone policy succeeded Wednesday in blocking a vote on John Brennan's nomination to be CIA director over questions about the possible use of the unmanned weapons against American citizens.
Lion kills person at California animal park
DUNLAP, Calif. (AP) - A lion killed a worker on Wednesday at a private wild animal park in Central California, authorities said.
LA Mayor Villaraigosa says he'd like to be governor someday
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that he will join a think tank after leaving office this summer - and he'd also like to be California's governor someday.
