Six Flags Magic Mountain is sued by riders who got stuck on a roller coaster.

Governor Jerry Brown has nominated a Mexican-born Stanford law professor to the California Supreme Court.

The Athletics say they have agreed to a 10-year lease extension to keep the team playing at O.co Coliseum.

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder passed along some sage words of advice for new Texas coach Charlie Strong,

Every member of the New York City police department will be required to undergo retraining on the use of violence following the death of a man in custody who appeared to have been subdued with a chokehold, the police commissioner said today.

In the three months since Islamic extremists kidnapped more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, town residents say 11 of their parents have died.

More than 36,000 PG&E customers were without power in San Francisco early Wednesday morning, according to PG&E officials. The outage, impacting 36,895 PG&E customers began late Tuesday night, according to PG&E officials.

AC Transit and its bus drivers and other employees avoided a potential Wednesday strike when the two sides reached a tentative deal on a three-year contract. Officials with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 and the bus system agreed to the deal shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, less than two hours before 1,625 drivers, mechanics, dispatchers, clerical and other workers had said they would walk off the job. AC Transit also wanted workers to begin paying a portion of their health care premiums.

Court questions decision to remove Grant from train [...] the courts and the public have placed the responsibility for Oscar Grant's death entirely on the BART police officer who shot the unarmed passenger on an Oakland train platform. [...] a federal appeals court ruling could shift some of the blame to the officer's supervisor and perhaps the transit system itself. Former Officer Johannes Mehserle, who fired the shot that killed Grant on Jan. 1, 2009, served 11 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter, and is also a defendant in the damage suit by Grant's father and four of his friends. [...] he said, an employer "shouldn't be responsible for the actions of a rogue employee, but for negligent supervision." BART has paid $2.8 million in settlements to Grant's mother and daughter, and could be assessed additional damages in the suits by Grant's father and the four friends, who spent hours in handcuffs at the transit agency's police station after the shooting.

Critics of a regional plan to encourage development and growth in areas with easy access to mass transit filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court on Tuesday. The petitioner, a group called Bay Area Citizens that says the plan will hurt their property values, is being represented in court by the Pacific Legal Foundation, a Sacramento conservative organization. The lawsuit alleges that Plan Bay Area violates the California Environmental Quality Act by omitting alternatives to its plan to steer 77 percent of future growth near "priority development areas," including places like Mission Bay in San Francisco, Oakland's Jack London Square and downtown San Rafael, Walnut Creek and Fairfield.

AC Transit also wants workers to begin paying a portion of their health care premiums. A bus operator's base salary is $55,000, but health and other benefits bring total compensation to about $103,000, Johnson said. The agency also originally wanted workers to contribute 10 percent to their health care premiums before switching to an agreement based on flat rates.

A car belonging to a missing Oakland woman has been found, but the whereabouts of the criminal defense investigator remain unknown, police said Tuesday. Coke, 50, who is a death penalty expert, works as an investigator for the federal public defender's office in Sacramento, helping government lawyers defend indigent clients accused of federal crimes. Family members are wondering whether she met with someone who purported to know where her dog was, or whether she met with foul play with someone connected to her work at the public defender's office.

Some of the iconic palm trees that line San Francisco?s Embarcadero are dying of a fungal disease that will require both their costly removal and replacement by the city's Department of Public Works.

NFL training camps start this week. And these rookies may be already feeling the pressure.

More details were released today about a man arrested last week on suspicion of public intoxication after allegedly impersonating a security officer and privately "screening" two women at San Francisco International Airport.

Some startup businesses in San Francisco have been plagued by break-ins lately, according to police.

The Federal Aviation Administration has banned U.S. air carriers from flying into Tel Aviv's airport due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Fans attending San Francisco Giants games at AT&T Park are greeted by bronze statues of the team's all-time greats: Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda. Now a group of fans wants to add one more statue - that of controversial superstar Barry Bonds.

"I cannot begin to express the shock and sadness we feel this evening," Santa Cruz Mayor Hillary Bryant said. "Two of our most beloved officers were killed in the line of duty and this has rocked the community to our absolute foundation."

The two slain officers are identified as Detective Sergeant Loran "Butch" Baker, a 28-year veteran of the department and 10-year veteran Detective Elizabeth Butler. Police Chief Kevin Vogel describes Baker as a longtime friend and mentor. Detective Baker leaves behind a wife, two daughters, and a son who works as a Community Services Officer for Santa Cruz police. Detective Butler is survived by her partner and two young sons, Vogel says.

"It was with deep, deep sadness that I stand before you this evening to talk about the death of my two officers today," Chief Vogel said. "We at the Santa Cruz police department are like family. I've known both of these officers for a long, long time and there just aren't words to describe how I feel personally about this and about how my department is reacting to this horrific, horrific tragedy."

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak's department will lead the investigation. He says it appears the two plain clothes detectives went to Goulet's home on Banciforte as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Based on physical evidence and witness accounts, Wowak says Goulet opened fire on the detectives. The two officers and witnesses called for help.

When authorities arrived on the scene they say they found the two detectives dead outside the home and Goulet missing. A multi-agency team then locked down the neighborhood which includes three schools and a busy Whole Foods supermarket.

Within minutes of setting up the search, Sheriff Wowak says officers encountered Goulet. A short chase ensued and then gunfire was exchanged, he says. Goulet was shot and killed at the scene.

Even after Goulet's death, officers continued a house by house, "closet-by-closet" search of the neighborhood to determine if there were additional suspects. Sheriff Wowak says it is his belief the public is now out of harm's way.

Students at the three schools were taken by bus to the nearby Government Center where they were re-united with their families.

Authorities are praising nearby law agencies including deputies from San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey County sheriffs departments and police officers from Scott's Valley, Capitola, and Watsonville who just showed up on the scene to offer their help.

Wowak says the California Department of Justice, the FBI, and the regional law agencies will all assist in the investigation. He says it could be weeks before we know all of the details of what happened and why.

Stay tuned to KRON 4 and KRON4.com for comprehensive coverage of the investigation into the shootings and the community's mourning of the two slain officers.

(Copyright 2013, KRON 4, All rights reserved.)

SAN JOSE (BCN) -- Police are investigating the death of a pedestrian who was fatally struck in a hit-and-run collision in San  Jose early Tuesday morning, officers said.      Shortly after 1 a.m., police received a report of a traffic collision at the intersection of Monterey Road and Bellevue Avenue.      Upon arrival, police determined that a vehicle had struck a woman and the driver had fled before police arrived on scene.      The victim was transported to a local hospital and treated for life-threatening injuries. She succumbed to her injuries at 1:50 a.m., police said.      Preliminary police investigation into the incident revealed that the victim was crossing the street when a dark-colored vehicle struck her.  The vehicle did not stop and continued southbound on Monterey Road, police said.      Neither the driver nor the vehicle has been located and the incident remains under investigation, according to police.      The victim's identity is being withheld pending notification to next of kin, police said.      Anyone with information regarding the incident or about the suspect vehicle is asked to contact local authorities.(Copyright 2013, Bay City News, All rights reserved.)

(BCN) The U.S. Coast Guard has called off its search for a man, woman and two children who reportedly abandoned ship off the coast of Monterey County on Sunday afternoon saying that the report could have been a hoax.The search was suspended at about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday. Coast Guard boats and aircraft had been scouring the waters about 65 miles off the Monterey coast since about 4:20 p.m. Sunday, when the family made a distress call to Coast Guard Sector San Francisco.The caller said he was on a boat, possibly named "Charmblow," with his wife, their 4-year-old son and the boy's young cousin.The man told the Coast Guard that the vessel's electronics system was failing, and then said over a choppy radio connection that the family had decided to abandon ship, according to the Coast Guard. Chief Petty Officer Mike Lutz said it is not clear how many life rafts the family had with them, but that there was no life raft. In the last dispatch from the boat at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the man said the family was trying to string together a cooler and a life ring to cling to. Petty Officer 2nd Class Barry Bena said there have been no missing-persons reports that would help identify the family. Lutz said the Coast Guard has checked local marinas for information about a boat named "Charmblow" or something similar, to no avail.However, although the search has been called off, the Coast Guard is still treating the incident as a legitimate distress call, Lutz said.(Copyright 2013, Bay City News, All rights reserved.)

SAN FRANCISCO -- A longtime oboist with the San Francisco Symphony remains hospitalized Monday after collapsing on stage Saturday night during a  performance at Davies Symphony Hall, a symphony spokesman said.      William Bennett, 56, the principal oboist, was performing Richard  Strauss' Oboe Concerto during an 8 p.m. performance at the hall, located at  201 Van Ness Ave., when he fell to the stage, spokesman Oliver Theil said.      The show was stopped and he was taken to a hospital, where it was determined that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage, Theil said.      He was still at the hospital this morning and was listed in guarded condition, according to Theil.      "We all think the world of Bill, and our thoughts and best wishes are with him and his family," Theil said.      Bennett has been a member of the symphony since 1979 and has been  the principal oboist since 1987.      There has been an outpouring of support for Bennett over social media, including by the New York Philharmonic, which sent well wishes in a  tweet this morning.(Copyright 2013, Bay City News, All rights reserved.)

(BCN) -- Family members and friends are worried about an Oakland couple who may have disappeared during a bike trip in South America last month.Garrett Hand, 25, and his girlfriend, Jamie Neal, left on their bike trip in late November, and at the end of January all communication stopped, Hand's sister Larkin McGowan said today.She said there has been no financial activity on the couple's bank accounts or credit cards since Jan. 25. "That's the big alarm," said McGowan, who lives in Concord.The couple, who McGowan described as avid bicyclists and well-traveled, have been documenting their trip online. Social media posts dropped off around the same time the financial activity stopped, she said. The last post on Neal's Facebook was on Jan. 23, when the pair arrived in Cusco, Peru.Hand, a commercial fisherman in the Bay Area, posted in Spanish on his Facebook page from Cusco on Jan. 25 that the next stop of the trip would be Pucallpa, Peru, if the couple could find a bus.Neal, who is in her 20s and works at the Pedaler Bike Shop in El Sobrante, had been in touch with her coworkers through the end of January, shop mechanic Mark Lindgren said.The shop has pooled together a $3,000 reward for any information that will help locate the couple.Lindgren said Neal had taken time off work for the trip, and that regular customers and colleagues are concerned.Donations for the couple's families can be made at any Mechanics Bank by mentioning Hand or Neal, Lindgren said.On Feb. 13, the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, posted an emergency message warning of a potential kidnapping threat in the Cusco area."The Embassy has received information that members of a criminal organization may be planning to kidnap U.S. citizen tourists in the Cusco and Machu Picchu area," the message reads.The threat is listed as credible through the end of February.McGowan said the families are working with the U.S. Embassy and local authorities.Copyright 2013, Bay City News, All rights reserved.)

SAN JOSE (BCN) -- A third suspect in a 2010 homicide in San Jose is in custody after being arrested Friday afternoon as he was on his way to court, police said.       Carlos Ruiz Paz, 21, a San Jose resident, was arrested at about 1:30 p.m. as he was en route to an unrelated court case, police said.      The victim, 22-year-old Jose Antonio Vega Calderon, was found stabbed and shot at the corner of Willard Avenue and San Carlos Street at about 9:30 p.m. on April 21, 2010, police said.       He was taken to a hospital, where he died later that night.      The killing was later determined to be gang-related, according to police.      Jose Torres, 22, and Alvaro Ochoa, 22, were identified as suspects and arrested in connection with the murder. They have been in custody since their 2010 arrests, police said.(Copyright 2013, Bay City News, All rights reserved.)

President Barack Obama is scheduled to fly into San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday night for a short fundraising visit in the South Bay.

Obama is slated to arrive on Air Force One around 9 p.m. ahead of a Wednesday reception and luncheon to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at the Los Altos Hills home of Judy and George Marcus.

George Marcus is the founder of the real estate brokerage firm Marcus & Millichap.

Other dignitaries expected at the 10:15 a.m. fundraiser include House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and DCCC chairman Steve Israel.

According to an event invitation, ticket prices started at $10,000 for lunch and a photo with Obama. A $32,400 ticket includes entrance to a VIP reception, lunch and a photo.

Protesters supporting net neutrality plan to demonstrate outside the presidential visit between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The group, organized by MoveOn.org, is urging Obama to support unrestricted, equal access to the Internet.

Organizers have said they are demanding Obama keep his promise to preserve the "open Internet" and publicly state that he supports the Federal Communications Commission treating the Internet as a public utility.

Net neutrality advocates have been rallying against FCC chairman Tom Wheeler's proposal to create a two-tiered system that would allow service providers to offer faster connection speeds for fee-paying content providers and a second, slower speed for others.

Obama will continue onto Los Angeles on an early Wednesday afternoon flight from SFO to end a three-day West Coast fundraising trip.

He will be in Seattle Tuesday before flying to the Bay Area.

Scientists have discovered a new way to make human platelets, which could help patients worldwide who need blood transfusions.

Platelets are the cells we use to form blood clots. They're traditionally created in our bone marrow. But scientists are now using a machine called a platelet bioreactor — along with human stem cells — to create platelets outside the human body. (Via YouTube / ThrombosisAdviser, American Society of Hematology?)

Essentially, this "next-generation" device — as Boston Magazine calls it — features the same characteristics as bone marrow. The crucial difference: It's able to carry out a reaction on an industrial scale.

An author of the study said in a press release published by HealthDay, "The ability to generate an alternative source of functional human platelets with virtually no disease transmission represents a paradigm shift in how we collect platelets that may allow us to meet the growing need for blood transfusions."

Brigham and Women's Hospital reports more than 2 million donor platelet units are transfused each year in the U.S. to help patients in need.

That includes trauma patients and those undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplants and surgery. (Getty Images)

But platelet shortages are common due to increased demand, a short shelf life and the possibility of contamination, rejection and infection. (Getty Images)

The problem lab-created platelets have run into in the past is time: Growing new platelets took too long.

A doctor not associated with this research said, "This study addresses that gap, while contributing to our understanding of platelet biology at the same time." (Via HealthDay / Brigham and Women's Hospital)

But the rules are tough on blood products, so the platelets will undergo safety tests over the next three years. Clinical human trials likely won't start until 2017. (Getty Images)

The study was published in the journal Blood.

A man is dead after being trapped by sand in a collapsed tunnel at Francis State Beach in Half Moon Bay.

Adam Pye, who is in his twenties, was standing in a hole that was about 10 feet deep, when it collapsed.

When emergency crews arrived at the scene, Pye was completely covered by sand. Due to the nature of the incident, 30 additional firefighters were called to help.

Crews and bystanders at the beach worked to get Pye out of the hole. They were able to pull him from the hole in less than 35 minutes, according to Cal Fire.

Despite the efforts of paramedics who administered advanced life support throughout the incident, Pye died at the scene.

At this point, additional details have not been released.

You've probably heard the popular claim that humans only tap into about 10 percent of their brainpower. (Via Getty Images)

Neurologists have debunked that urban legend countless times in the past, with many calling it a laughable and completely false myth. (Via Scientific American, NBC, BBC, LiveScience)

But for whatever reason, people have still chosen to believe it. And the entertainment business might be, in part, to blame.

"It is estimated most human beings only use 10 percent of the brain's capacity." (Via Universal Pictures / "Lucy")

In the new sci-fi thriller "Lucy," which hits theaters this weekend, Scarlett Johansson plays a woman who is implanted with a mysterious drug that increases her mental capabilities exponentially. (Via IMDb)

And other recent releases like "Limitless" and "Transcendence" give the idea we only use a fraction of our brain's computing power.

But as "Lucy" starts to make people question this idea's validity once again, doctors are reiterating — it just doesn't make sense.

Samadi says, "It's not true, absolutely not. We're using 100 percent of our brain all the time." (Via Fox News)?

Except, perhaps, on Monday mornings. No one knows for sure where this popular "10 percent" myth originated.

But a professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge told the Belfast Telegraph the 10 percent figure was widely circulated for the first time in the 1936 best-seller "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

She claims the author probably made up the figure to prove a point in the book. (Via Amazon)

But that 10 percent number could also come from a misunderstanding of how most of our brain cells work.

SAMADI: "What's interesting about this is that, if you get a brain scan, you would see that maybe about 10 to 15 percent of your brain is extremely active." (Via Fox News)

To be clear — the entire brain is always active. As LiveScience pointed out back in 2010, brain scans have shown that people use all of their brains, though it is true that we don't use all of it at the same time.

But years of studies like that don't seem to be getting through. A survey sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research last year found 65 percent of Americans still believe that people only use 10 percent of their brains.

So why won't people let this myth go already?

A health writer for the BBC says it might be because it's a pretty encouraging idea. "Maybe it's the figure of 10 percent that is so appealing because it is so low that it offers massive potential for improvement. We'd all like to be better. ... But, sadly, finding an unused portion of our brains isn't the way it's going to happen."

Hopefully, the film industry will catch up with the world of science soon. But hey, at least it still makes for a good movie night, right? 

A tree planted in Los Angeles to honor former Beatle George Harrison has been killed — by beetles.

Councilman Tom LaBonge says the pine grew to more than 12 feet tall before succumbing to a bark beetle infestation.

The tree was removed last month. LaBonge says it will be replanted in the fall.

After Harrison's 2001 death in Los Angeles, the pine was planted near Griffith Observatory. A small plaque at the base commemorates the guitarist and songwriter, who had a deep appreciation of gardening.

LaBonge says several trees at Griffith Park have been killed by the beetles.

After five days, running water at a Pleasanton apartment complex has been restored Tuesday.

An apparent water main break left 200 residents at Springhouse Apartments without water.

Residents said the complex, located off Stoneridge and West Las Positas, had been without water since Friday.

Some tenants told KTVU they had to scoop water out of the community pool in order to get their toilets to flush. Some said they went to friends' houses or gyms to shower.

One resident said a maintenance worker told him the complex’s company didn’t want to pay for the after-hours price to have a plumber repair the problem over the weekend.

Portable sinks and toilets were brought in Monday morning.

Managers also offered hotel vouchers and gallons of water. Most residents said they had to buy gallons of water since Friday and they were frustrated because they couldn't shower, do laundry, brush their teeth, cook or drink.

At this point, management has not commented.