Ex-official to build ethanol plants
Former Secretary of State Bill Jones is heading an effort to raise $90 million to build two ethanol plants near his home in the San Joaquin Valley.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Street medics care for protesters
Provide safety in melee
Scott Bohning felt a wooden dowel, shot from a police gun, smack his nose. His hands filled with blood. Nearby a woman took one in her cheek and fell back, stunned. The air was thick with screams and sirens.
( By MARTHA MENDOZA, Associated Press, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

State news
Acouple accused of posing as immigration lawyers and collecting more than $500,000 from unsuspecting workers from Mexico and the Philippines are facing 106 counts of grand theft, tax fraud and unauthorized practice of law.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

State appeals judge's dog-mauling verdict
Prosecutors are appealing a Superior Court judge's decision to throw out the murder conviction of a San Francisco woman who was caring for two dogs when they mauled her neighbor to death.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Suit allowed in refusal to fire clerk
A L'Oreal sales manager who received negative job reviews after she refused to fire a perfume saleswoman whom her boss considered unattractive can sue for retaliation based on sexual discrimination, a California appeals court has ruled.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Music industry cautious over war
Antiwar songs not getting as much airplay
Most musicians have avoided singing about the war in Iraq, and those few who have written new antiwar songs aren't getting heard on radio, where a wave of expensive mergers has fostered more conservative programming.
( By KIM CURTIS, Associated Press, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Railroad history inspires project
Sacramento plans massive downtown expansion
One hundred and forty years after businessmen drove the first spike of the Transcontinental Railroad here, California developers plan one of the nation's biggest, most innovative downtown expansions on the 240-acre cradle of American railroading's most storied accomplishment.
( By JIM WASSERMAN, Associated Press, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Faith healer arrested on bail violation
An alleged faith healer charged with involuntary manslaughter in a patient's death remained jailed Friday after being arrested for continuing to practice medicine without a license, officials said.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Silicon Valley's no-tech firms post mixed results
Last year's economic woes brought some good news mixed with the bad to Silicon Valley's publicly traded non-technology firms.
( By MICHELE CHANDLER, San Jose Mercury News, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Tarzan's 'Cheeta' enjoying life
71-year-old film star is relaxing in the desert
Like a lot of old movie stars, Cheeta has found his way to this desert resort, where he likes to monkey around painting, playing the piano or maybe watching one of his old movies on TV.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Desert 'sound baths' offer energy recharge
The sign in front says ''UFO Parking Only. All others will be towed.''
( By MARLA JO FISHER, The Orange County Register, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Artist at work on new gay pride flag
The California artist who created the rainbow flag as a symbol of gay pride is making a new version of the internationally famous banner to commemorate its 25th anniversary.
( 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

NASA picks landing sites for Mars rovers
NASA picked landing sites for twin rovers targeted for a January arrival at Mars to prospect for geological evidence that the Red Planet was once a warmer, wetter place hospitable to life.
( By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)

Medical privacy to be tighter
New federal rules will protect patients, starting Monday
Maybe there are some things in your medical history that you'd rather keep to yourself. The results of an HIV test. Psychiatric treatment. Cosmetic surgery. Drug rehab.
( By BARBARA FEDER OSTROV, San Jose Mercury News, 04/13/2003 03:01 AM PDT)