Hakeim Bostic wasn't sure what was wrong with the boy who walked by him on Fruitridge Road last Friday morning -- but something about the boy's odd behavior got his attention.

The nation's leading outdoor adventure retailer is building its second California store in Manteca -- and now, they're looking to hire hundreds.

Approximately 100 Aerojet workers in Sacramento will receive layoff notices before the end of summer, the defense contractor reported late Wednesday.

A bankruptcy judge is facing a decision on whether the struggling city of Vallejo is financially insolvent and can void labor contracts with four public employees unions.

More than 200,000 state workers could see their paychecks temporarily reduced to minimum wage next month as legislators battle over California's overdue budget.

The state of Washington is charging fraud and false advertising against a well-known mortgage company based in Roseville.

AP - Hurricane Dolly slammed ashore and then loitered over deep south Texas as a tropical storm, dumping as much as a foot of rain in places and ripping roofs off buildings with 100 mph winds.

AP - The scene repeats itself daily on city streets: a driver gets stuck bumper to bumper, blocking an intersection and preventing another car from turning left.

AP - Cash-strapped homebuyers and borrowers facing foreclosure will get some relief from a housing bill passed by the House on Wednesday but the bill won't solve the deep-rooted ills of the U.S. housing market.

AP - Seven Western states are joining four Canadian provinces to propose a plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions through use of a "cap and trade" system.

AP - Growing costs and vulnerability to anti-ship missiles sank the Navy's once-heralded "stealth destroyer," a highly advanced warship designed to slip close to the shore unnoticed and pummel targets with big guns.

AP - About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to consumers.

AP - Hundreds of feet beneath Earth's surface, a few seasoned cave explorers venture where no human has set foot. Their headlamps illuminate mud-covered walls, gypsum crystals and mineral deposits.

AP - All six crew members aboard a B-52 bomber that crashed off Guam were killed, the Air Force said Wednesday as the search effort shifted focus from rescue to recovery of the crew and pieces of the wreckage.

AP - The employer of a pregnant teenager who died of heat stroke after pruning grapevines for nine hours in hot weather was hit Wednesday with the highest fine ever issued to a California farming operation.

AP - A woman mauled by a bear in a rural area of Southern California was recovering Wednesday as game wardens sought to trap and kill the animal.

AP - The Massachusetts House of Representatives has given its initial approval to a bill that would require all future legislation be written in language that is gender neutral.

AP - Texas authorities on Wednesday began looking for five indicted members of a polygamist sect, in a child sex-abuse case that the group's spokesman alleged was a face-saving move by officials who lost a court battle over their seizure of hundreds of children from a sect-owned ranch.

AP - Kentucky has started lowering flags to half-staff only for fallen soldiers from the Bluegrass State, upsetting veterans and lawmakers who say the policy dishonors tens of thousands of service members from other states stationed at installations such as Fort Campbell and Fort Knox.