Firefighters and others say they knew that eventually a charter bus taking the popular shortcut to the Colusa Casino might crash.

A jury has found a former history teacher guilty of 11 counts of annoying or molesting a child and one count of sexual battery, according to Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office has learned the identity of a woman found dead in 1971.

Rescuers have encountered unfavorable weather, high water and difficult terrain in their search for a missing hiker in the Iceland Lake area of Emigrant Wilderness.

A federal judge has scolded Califonia officials for failing to provide the billions of dollars a court-appointed receiver says is needed to upgrade the state's prison health care system.

AP - The explosion of practice mortars sent Army Spc. Kade Williams into panic attacks, and nightmares plagued his sleep. The ravages of post-traumatic stress had left the veteran of the war in Afghanistan vulnerable, and he was desperate for help.

AP - The only hints of trouble in the big beige house on Como Lane were the newspapers in the driveway and the lack of any activity behind the front door.

AP - Federal prosecutors moved Monday to delay indefinitely the sentencing of convicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, sending their strongest hint yet that he is ready to spill his political secrets.

AP - Quintin Watts had a lengthy criminal record, a history of substance abuse and a string of motor vehicle offenses. Even his mother says he wasn't a good driver.

AP - Mayor Michael Bloomberg's crusade to change term limits law so he can run again gets its first official test this week with a bill in the City Council, where it will compete with legislation intended to stop him.

AP - The words "bride" and "groom" will reappear on all marriage license applications issued in California starting next month, state health officials said.

AP - The federal government will designate "critical habitat" for polar bears off Alaska's coast, a decision that could add restrictions to future offshore petroleum exploration or drilling.

AP - A mother was convicted of second-degree murder Monday for driving her teenage son and his friends to a fatal fight with a rival gang.

AP - The man accused of leading the notorious Serial Shooter attacks two years ago watched with excitement as news reports logged his alleged killings and fear spread through neighborhoods across the Phoenix area, a prosecutor said Monday.

AP - A sheriff's deputy accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in Kentucky taunted state police in an e-mail exchange Monday, threatening a county jailer and telling police he was going to "make them earn their money" in their search for him.

AP - The number of Americans whose electricity or gas has been shut off for nonpayment of their bills is up sharply in many parts of the country as people struggle to cope with higher prices and a shaky economy.

AP - The man accused of murdering 3-year-old Erica Green kicked her in the head but didn't mean to kill her, his attorney told a jury Monday in the case of a victim the city mourned for four years only knowing her as "Precious Doe."

AP - Georgia's top court ruled in favor of a transgender politician who was slapped with a lawsuit by two political opponents who claimed she misled voters by running as a woman.