A Yosemite park spokeswoman says 38-year-old Mason Robison was killed after a rock dislodged and severed his rope as he and a partner were about 2,300 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor.
The state Senate has approved legislation making it clear that counties can use money from a special tax on millionaires for programs that provide court-ordered mental health treatment for those who refuse to get help on their own.
A coroner says the five people killed and six hospitalized after a van careened off of a southern Illinois freeway were men returning from a California religious event.
A devastated father says he has no idea why gunmen targeted his Northern California home over the weekend, killing his 10-year-old daughter as she watched TV.
Federal investigators probing the hantavirus outbreak blamed for three deaths at Yosemite National Park recommend that design changes to tent cabins and other lodging run by private concessionaires first be reviewed by National Park Service officials.
A brush fire in the San Francisco Bay Area has been contained after coming close to homes, and authorities are investigating whether it was set intentionally.
Sheriff's officials say a 10-year-old girl is dead and her parents are hospitalized after gunmen walked up to the front door of a home in the North Highlands area of Sacramento County and started shooting.
Los Angeles politicians have struggled for more than five years to regulate medical marijuana, trying to balance the needs of the sick against concerns that pot shops attract crime.
Thousands of steel tendons used to strengthen the skyway portion of the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge were exposed during construction to rainfall and salty bay mist, leading to corrosion concerns.
In a busy factory, machinists move sheets of aluminum roll in the back door to be molded, stamped, twisted and notched into high-tech electric cars that sell for more than $60,000 each.
Newsroom employees at the Santa Barbara News-Press have voted to cut ties with the Teamsters, the union that has represented them through years of legal struggles with management over control of the newspaper.
Gov. Jerry Brown is blocking parole for an inmate who is serving a life sentence for executing a prison guard 36 years ago during a series of armed robberies.
The owner of the Italian entry in the America's Cup sailing races says his boat will compete this summer, but he's seeking new safety measures after the death of a sailor on another crew during a training run last week.