Contra Costa Times - Local Breaking News

Stanford women cruise to 82-59 win over UCLA

editor@contracostatimes.com (Elliott Almond ealmond@mercurynews.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:11:16 -0700

No. 4 Stanford overcame a spotty first half Sunday to cruise to an 82-59 victory over aggressive UCLA in a Pacific-12 Conference game at Maples Pavilion.

Kawakami: Jerry West calls Jeremy Lin 'a tremendous player"

editor@contracostatimes.com (Tim Kawakami Mercury News Columnist) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:07:09 -0700

If you know Jerry West, you know he loves great basketball and he especially loves the players who create those moments and shake up the sports world.

'The Artist' named best picture at UK film awards

editor@contracostatimes.com (Jill Lawless Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:03:45 -0700

Silent movie "The Artist" is the big winner at the British Academy Film awards, taking seven prizes including best picture.

AT&T final round: Phil Mickelson surges to the lead as Tiger Woods falls behind

csteward@bayareanewsgroup.com (Carl Steward csteward@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:49:08 -0700

PEBBLE BEACH -- Three-time winner Phil Mickelson surged to the lead with three birdies and an eagle on the first six holes in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Sunday and held a two-stroke lead with five holes to go.

Antioch police investigate five shootings in two days

jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com (Joshua Melvin jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:05:19 -0700

Antioch police were investigating their fifth shooting in less than two days after a man was struck by a bullet as he drove away from a closing-time bar brawl early Sunday morning.

Heritage students taking 'Asimov' to robotics regionals

rcoetsee@bayareanewsgroup.com (Rowena Coetsee / Contra Costa Times) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:51:57 -0700

Brentwood robotics club used small robot to qualify for the regional competition.

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Man shot by Berkeley police was under drug investigation

editor@contracostatimes.com (Bay City News Service) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:26:44 -0700

A man shot by a Berkeley police officer in Castro Valley on Wednesday has been under investigation for narcotics and was in possession of a half-pound of cocaine, police said.

Athens buildings ablaze as Greeks battle riot police on eve of debt deal vote

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:13:56 -0700

Rioting spread across central Athens and buildings went up in flames amid mass protests, as lawmakers prepared to vote for a crucial debt deal needed to prevent bankruptcy.

Missing Crockett man found dead by Interstate 80

jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com (Joshua Melvin jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:05:48 -0700

A more than two-week hunt for a missing Crockett man ended tragically Saturday when searchers found his body on an undeveloped tract of land in the Crockett/Rodeo area, police said.

Two arrests after mostly peaceful Occupy Oakland anti-police march

jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com (Joshua Melvin jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:56:39 -0700

Following a peaceful Occupy Oakland anti-police brutality protest Saturday night, two people were arrested after allegedly kicking and struggling with officers, police said.

Man robbed and abducted at gunpoint from Gilroy parking lot

jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com (Joshua Melvin jmelvin@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:56:00 -0700

Police are hunting the crooks who robbed a man in broad daylight Saturday off a busy downtown Gilroy street, then abducted him at gunpoint and finally left him, unharmed on the side Highway 101.

San Francisco: 88 customers without power as PG&E crews repair damage from auto collision

editor@contracostatimes.com (Bay City News Service) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:52:04 -0700

PG&E work crews are repairing power lines damaged when a car hit a utility pole in San Francisco's Crocker-Amazon neighborhood early this morning, a PG&E spokesman said.

Weather: Mostly cloudy skies with rain, wind likely this evening

editor@contracostatimes.com (Bay City News Service) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:50:32 -0700

Mostly cloudy skies are expected in the Bay Area today. Highs are likely to be in the mid 50s. Rain and wind is likely this evening. Lows are expected to be in the upper 40s.

Fuel removal under way on Italy cruise ship

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:50:24 -0700

ROME (AP) -- Authorities in Italy say pumping operations have begun to remove some of the 500,000 gallons of fuel aboard the cruise ship that ran aground off Tuscany.

Obama's budget offers short-term help for economy

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:47:28 -0700

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The president will send Congress a budget that will provide short-term help to a struggling economy while offering a long-term plan to deal with soaring deficits, the White House said Sunday.

Man to face trial in wife's diving death

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:46:36 -0700

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- A dream honeymoon to scuba dive on Australia's Great Barrier Reef turned into a terrible nightmare, and the horror is about to play out years later in a courtroom in Alabama.

Powerball player wins $336 million jackpot

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:45:29 -0700

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Lottery officials say someone who played the Powerball in Rhode Island has won the $336.4 million jackpot. The new multimillionaire has not stepped forward and the lottery has not said where the winning ticket was sold.

Top Republican wants vote on birth control mandate

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:42:12 -0700

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says President Barack Obama's compromise on birth control coverage isn't good enough, so he'll push for a vote on legislation that would exempt any organization that has moral objections to the requirement.

Rick Santorum plans aggressive strategy against Mitt Romney

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:41:37 -0700

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Rick Santorum is pursuing an aggressive strategy to challenge Mitt Romney in the state where the GOP presidential front-runner grew up.

Teenage Tibetan nun sets herself on fire in China

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:40:32 -0700

BEIJING (AP) -- An 18-year-old Tibetan nun has set herself on fire in western China in the latest such protest against Beijing's handling of the vast ethnic Tibetan regions it rules, an overseas activist group said Sunday.

White House: Matter of time before Syrian President Bashar Assad falls

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:39:24 -0700

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's chief of staff says it's only a matter of time before the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad collapses.

Japanese emperor Akihito to have heart bypass surgery

editor@contracostatimes.com (Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:36:56 -0700

TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese Emperor Akihito will have heart bypass surgery later this month, his palace said Sunday after the 78-year-old monarch was hospitalized for tests over the weekend.

Rodeo and Crockett women are first in county to be prosecuted under tough new truancy law

tlochner@bayareanewsgroup.com (Tom Lochner / Contra Costa Times) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:28:24 -0700

Women being prosecuted under state law that took effect in January 2011

Vorderbrueggen: Councilman finds old ties hard to shake

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:24:52 -0700

When Pittsburg Councilman Sal Evola ran for office for the first time in 2006, skeptics predicted he would be a stooge for the Seenos, his powerful developer employer and family.

Bay Area investment group connects socially responsible lenders, local farmers

awoodall@bayareanewsgroup.com (Angela Woodall / Oakland Tribune) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:10:31 -0700

Slow Money nonprofit, founded in 2009, set out to reinvent local agriculture, make you healthier.

Noticeable decline in school-age children in West Oakland

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:07:36 -0700

Nationwide, the total number of 5- to 17-year-olds increased slightly in the last decade. But Oakland, Richmond and San Francisco, as well as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Atlanta, saw declines of 9 percent to 20 percent between 2000 and 2010, census data show.

SAP Open: After all these years, John McEnroe still one of the faces of U.S. tennis

editor@contracostatimes.com (Mark Emmons memmons@mercurynews.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:41:00 -0700

The former star, who plays in a doubles exhibition match Monday night at HP Pavilion, is frustrated by lack of Americans at the top of sport's rankings

Jeremy Lin: New York Knicks star scores 20 points, hits winning free throw to beat Minnesota Timberwolves

editor@contracostatimes.com (Jon Krawczynski Associated Press) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:40:12 -0700

The former Palo Alto High and Warriors guard finished with 20 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Saint Mary's College bounces back against Santa Clara

benos@bayareanewsgroup.com (Ben Enos benos@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:39:12 -0700

Forward helps SMC bounce back from pasting at Gonzaga

Gas leak briefly closes Pacifica stores

rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com (Rick Hurd / Bay Area News Group) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:55:52 -0700

Nobody was injured and there was no damage after a gas leak forced the evacuation of a Ross department store Saturday morning, authorities said.

Seventeen-month-old San Mateo twins recovering after liver transplants

editor@contracostatimes.com (Helen Shen hshen@mercurynews.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:52:25 -0700

The San Mateo twins are quickly developing their own personalities and habits, but they both will always share matching long and winding scars across their bellies. The faint pink lines are reminders of the babies' recent liver transplants at Stanford's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital to treat a rare and life-threatening genetic disorder.

Ex-Stanford golfer Bramlett no ordinary Joseph with double-eagle 2 at Spyglass Hill

csteward@bayareanewsgroup.com (Carl Steward csteward@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:47:24 -0700

Bramlett is in rare company with double-eagle 2

Oakland aims to rebuild local food system one farm at a time

awoodall@bayareanewsgroup.com (Angela Woodall / Oakland Tribune) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:36:08 -0700

Long-distance food costs Oakland dollars and jobs, activists say.

Occupy Oakland marchers continue weekly anti-police protest

editor@contracostatimes.com (Alan Lopez / Oakland Tribune) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:32:48 -0700

OAKLAND -- About 75 people marched Saturday night during the weekly anti-police brutality march organized by Occupy Oakland.Several police motorcycles followed the crowd, which chanted "Out of your homes and into the streets!

Monte Poole: Enjoy the Jeremy Lin ride while it lasts

editor@contracostatimes.com (Monte Poole Bay Area News Group) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:13:12 -0700

Jeremy Lin, 23, unselected in the 2010 NBA draft, now stands astride the Big Apple, which of course crowns him as king of our world. Well, at least for the moment.

Clayton Valley Charter High School registration is under way, Mt. Diablo district prepares to transfer students who won't attend charter

tharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com (Theresa Harrington / Contra Costa Times) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:12:00 -0700

Charter registration due this month, district transfers due next month

San Jose Sharks begin nine-game trip

editor@contracostatimes.com (David Pollak dpollak@mercurynews.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:10:52 -0700

Team's 7,750-mile journey will cover 16 nights on road

Hindu temple to open in empty Tracy retail complex

editor@contracostatimes.com (Contra Costa Times) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:07:12 -0700

Empty business complex has never had a tenant

Jim Harrington: Whitney Houston was one of the great ones

jharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com (Jim Harrington / Oakland Tribune) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:04:48 -0700

Let's first remember the good times. Let's picture Whitney Houston singing the 1985 chart-topper "Saving All My Love For You," soaring through the National Anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl, starring in the 1992 hit film "The Bodyguard" and winning three big trophies at the 1994 Grammy Awards.

Cal holds off UCLA rally for 73-63 victory

jaraudo@bayareanewsgroup.com (Jeff Faraudo jfaraudo@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:04:00 -0700

The win allowed Cal to complete a regular-season sweep of UCLA and USC for the first time since the Bears' national championship season of 1958-59.

Skull fragment, other remains found in San Joaquin County excavated well identified as burial spot by serial killer

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:02:44 -0700

Detectives have unearthed a skull fragment and other remains from an unearthed well on a Linden farm where Death Row inmate Wesley Shermantine indicated on maps that about a dozen bodies were dumped. A forensic dentist also has determined that the skull and teeth found Thursday on a remote Calaveras County property belonged to Cyndi Vanderheiden, a woman missing since 1998 and murdered by the "Speed Freak Killers."

Golden State Warriors notebook: Starters respond to being benched

jstiglich@bayareanewsgroup.com (Joe Stiglich jstiglich@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:02:16 -0700

Jackson impressed with performances of past two games

Two wounded in Antioch shooting

rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com (Rick Hurd / Contra Costa Times) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:54:12 -0700

ANTIOCH -- Police and paramedics are on the scene of a shooting in Antioch, authorities reported.Two people were wounded in the shooting, according to a Tweet sent at 9:36 p.

In most Bay Area schools, high-profile school reform ideas remain hypothetical

kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com (Katy Murphy / Oakland Tribune) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:49:12 -0700

The notion of treating teachers more like private-sector workers has gained traction and publicity. But in the Bay Area, with the exception of nonunionized charter schools and a handful of others, it remains mostly hypothetical.

Tiger Woods vaults to third place at AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

csteward@bayareanewsgroup.com (Carl Steward csteward@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:45:21 -0700

He trails leader Charlie Wi by three strokes

Mark Purdy: Tiger Woods in the perfect place to close the deal

editor@contracostatimes.com (Mark Purdy Mercury News Columnist) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:45:02 -0700

Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies at 48

editor@contracostatimes.com (Nekesa Mumbi Moody Associated Press) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:11:27 -0700

Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died.

El Cerrito's first police dog, King, dies

rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com (Rick Hurd / Contra Costa Times) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:17:40 -0700

EL CERRITO -- The first police dog in the history of El Cerrito died Friday, the department said.King, who was partnered with officer Joshua Del Prado after joining the department late in 2010, was taken to the vet after showing signs of distress, police chief Sylvia Moir said in a release.

Martinez residents push for extended swimming pool season

editor@contracostatimes.com (Lisa P. White / Contra Costa Times) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:40:12 -0700

MARTINEZ -- A group of residents is pushing to extend the season at a swimming pool, but funding and staffing challenges may make that difficult. Cooki Telles started taking water aerobics classes at Rankin Aquatic Center after it opened in late July.

Jeremy Lin: New York Knicks star scores 20 points, including go-ahead free throw in final seconds, to beat Minnesota Timberwolves

editor@contracostatimes.com (Mercury News wire services) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:34:41 -0700

The pace was similar to Lin's previous four games, when he averaged 28.5 points and eight assists.

Maine GOP chairman say Mitt Romney wins caucuses

editor@contracostatimes.com (Steve Peoples and Beth Fouhy Associated Press) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:11:09 -0700

Mitt Romney narrowly won Maine's Republican caucuses, state party officials announced Saturday, providing his campaign with a much-needed boost after three straight losses earlier this week.

Kevin Merfeld: Charlie Wi welcomes Tiger Woods' return to form

editor@contracostatimes.com (Kevin Merfeld kmerfeld@montereyherald.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:08:22 -0700

Tiger Woods poised for victory at AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com (Cam Inman cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:48:36 -0700

Tiger Woods is 11-under for the tournament, good enough for a share of third place and four shots off Charlie Wi's pace.