The crash of a Toyota Prius in New York caught the attention of federal regulators Wednesday after the driver said it accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall. The crash heightens the attention surrounding unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles and a recall involving more than 8 million vehicles to address gas pedals that can become sticky or trapped under floor mats.

More than 140 health care workers at Alameda County's two jails  who participated in a one-day strike on Tuesday were locked out Wednesday morning  by jail administrators and will be prevented from returning to work for a  week. Shortly after 6 a.m., workers began to arrive at the Santa  Rita Jail in Dublin but were turned away.

Oakland police said that a 19-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her 2-year-old daughter.  Police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason said Tiffany Lopez was arrested after being interviewed about the death of her daughter, Kamilah Russell, but declined to say if Lopez admitted to killing the girl.

The families of three Berkeley alums detained in Iran for months say their loved ones have been allowed to call home for the first time. The families say in a statement they received the calls Tuesday. The three reported being well. The families called the conversations "a tremendous relief."

A prosecutor asked jurors Tuesday to convict two men of murder  charges for allegedly killing a drug dealer in Antioch four years ago and  then killing an innocent woman in Oakland because she was a potential witness  to the crime.

The government sent investigators Tuesday to examine a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway, and Toyota said it wanted to interview the driver as the besieged automaker dealt with a high-profile new headache that raised questions about the safety of its beloved hybrid. A day after state troopers helped the car slow to a stop and its driver to emerge unharmed, Toyota could shed no new light on what might have gone wrong.

Police have arrested a third suspect in a Valentine's Day  shooting inside a Richmond church that injured two brothers, police Sgt. Bisa  French said.  The suspect, 18-year-old Marcel Buggs, of Richmond, was taken into custody at about 10:45 a.m,  police Sgt. Bisa French said. He arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm and a probation violation.

Alameda County Sheriff's deputies are stepping up their search for a 27-year old man who has been missing for more than a week. Witnesses saw Francisco Javier Lopez enter a home in the 19,000 block of Standish Avenue in unincorporated areas of Hayward on February 26th.  When deputies entered the home they say they discovered a large marijuana growing operation. 

State employment officials are seeking a $33 million grant from  the federal government to help thousands of workers who will likely lose  their jobs when the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont  closes next month. The state Employment Development Department is anticipating that  more than 4,700 auto workers employed at the NUMMI plant will lose their  jobs, as well as perhaps 24,000 others employed by direct and indirect  suppliers of the company.

California energy regulators say they will soon begin investigating new Pacific Gas and Electric Co. meters that some customers have blamed for higher energy bills. The California Public Utilities Commission said Monday it expects to name a consultant later this week to probe the accuracy of the meters. The digital SmartMeters send information about a household's gas and electric use to the company through wireless signals.

The crash of a Toyota Prius in New York caught the attention of federal regulators Wednesday after the driver said it accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall. The crash heightens the attention surrounding unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles and a recall involving more than 8 million vehicles to address gas pedals that can become sticky or trapped under floor mats.

The San Francisco school board has approved a controversial new system for determining where students attend school. The policy approved Tuesday seeks to balance competing demands for creating more diverse schools and allowing families to send their kids to their neighborhood schools.

Jurors heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of a man  accused of fatally shooting a 21-year-old taxi driver early on a Saturday  morning in 2003 in Redwood City. 37-year-old Lousa Mataele, who was previously found incompetent to stand  trial, is charged with murder, attempted murder and attempted  robbery for allegedly shooting to death taxi driver Davinder Singh, as well  as shooting and attempting to rob Jaime Torres.

Concerns about the San Francisco Police Department's crime lab,  amid allegations of mishandling of drug evidence, is forcing hte dismissal of several narcotics cases in court, and defense attorneys said they would  seek many more. Debbie Madden, 60, a recently retired civilian employee of the  crime lab, is the subject of a probe by the Police Department into  allegations she took small amounts of cocaine from evidence containers.

San Francisco's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center is asking the city for some big financial help to stay afloat. Since opening in 2002, the $12.3 million, city-subsidized center has struggled to pay its mortgage and is now on the verge of foreclosure. Officials are now asking the city for a $1 million line of credit.

Google Inc. is adding a bike lane with its latest online mapping option. The new bicycling directions available on Google Maps starting Wednesday supplement the guidance already provided to motorists and pedestrians. The biking directions initially will be available only for the United States.

San Francisco supervisors have passed an ordinance strengthening  the city's regulations against public smoking. The ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Eric Mar, was approved  Tuesday afternoon by a 10-0 vote, but only after several amendments were made in  recent weeks, intended to appease businesses.

Officials have stopped all drug testing at San Francisco's police crime lab as they investigate allegations that a technician stole cocaine. Police Chief George Gascon announced the investigation Tuesday night, and said he believes the alleged theft is limited to one employee. He said an external review will begin in a few days.

The family of an unarmed man who was shot and killed by San Francisco police can go ahead with its civil rights lawsuit against the department. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday that a jury should decide whether police used excessive force when they fatally shot 25-year-old Asa Sullivan in June 2006.

The government sent investigators Tuesday to examine a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway, and Toyota said it wanted to interview the driver as the besieged automaker dealt with a high-profile new headache that raised questions about the safety of its beloved hybrid. A day after state troopers helped the car slow to a stop and its driver to emerge unharmed, Toyota could shed no new light on what might have gone wrong.

When a voracious pest triggered a quarantine this week across much of Napa Valley - the nation's premier grape-growing region - it threatened more than the grapes themselves. The spraying of pesticides needed to control the European grapevine moth threatens to undo decades of low-impact farming practices that have elevated the quality of wines from the region.

The crash of a Toyota Prius in New York caught the attention of federal regulators Wednesday after the driver said it accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall. The crash heightens the attention surrounding unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles and a recall involving more than 8 million vehicles to address gas pedals that can become sticky or trapped under floor mats.

A Northern California woman accused of using her 13-year-old son as a designated driver to avoid getting another DUI has pleaded guilty to child endangerment. Heather Choulos of Mill Valley will be sentenced next month. She was arrested last fall after authorities spotted a Land Rover in the middle of a major thoroughfare and found the boy behind the wheel.

A Northern California man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his grandfather. Sean Mooney, of Chico, was convicted in July in the shooting death of 77-year-old Robert Deming. Prosecutors had argued that Mooney shot his grandfather in the back of the head to gain an early inheritance.

The government sent investigators Tuesday to examine a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway, and Toyota said it wanted to interview the driver as the besieged automaker dealt with a high-profile new headache that raised questions about the safety of its beloved hybrid. A day after state troopers helped the car slow to a stop and its driver to emerge unharmed, Toyota could shed no new light on what might have gone wrong.

The owner of a closed Bodega Bay vacation rental company is being sued by Sonoma County for millions in overdue taxes and penalties. In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Rosa, the county accuses Vacation Rentals USA owner Joann Beckman of fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. Beckman closed the rental company in January.

A grape-eating moth in Napa County has prompted a quarantine that will regulate the shipment of fruit and some plants in the heart of the state's premier wine region. The European grapevine moth first was detected in the Oakville area as grapes were reaching their peak last September. Since then, traps set across the region have shown the moth's spread.

California energy regulators say they will soon begin investigating new Pacific Gas and Electric Co. meters that some customers have blamed for higher energy bills. The California Public Utilities Commission said Monday it expects to name a consultant later this week to probe the accuracy of the meters. The digital SmartMeters send information about a household's gas and electric use to the company through wireless signals.

A Santa Rosa man with 13 previous DUI convictions, seven of them  felonies, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison Monday in  Sonoma County Superior Court for his latest offense. Robert James Feenan, 50, was arrested Nov. 20 after his vehicle  collided with another vehicle on state Highway 12 and Stony Point Road, the  Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said.

Nearly 50 Bay Area schools are on an incomplete list of poorly performing campuses in a new report from the California Department of Education. The list includes schools in the all nine Bay Area counties except Napa. The state is listing the schools as "persistently low-achieving."  That's defined using a complex formula.

The crash of a Toyota Prius in New York caught the attention of federal regulators Wednesday after the driver said it accelerated on its own, then lurched down a driveway, across a road and into a stone wall. The crash heightens the attention surrounding unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles and a recall involving more than 8 million vehicles to address gas pedals that can become sticky or trapped under floor mats.

Firefighters have contained a four-alarm fire at a Santa Clara recycling business sending huge plumes of black smoke into the skies near Mineta San Jose International Airport. The fire broke out at ECS Refining at 705 Reed Street in Santa Clara.   KRON 4's Craig Sklar reports witnesses say a small fire broke out in one section of the recycling yard and spread quickly.

Google Inc. is adding a bike lane with its latest online mapping option. The new bicycling directions available on Google Maps starting Wednesday supplement the guidance already provided to motorists and pedestrians. The biking directions initially will be available only for the United States.

Authorities say a man fatally shot by Fremont police over the weekend was a suspect in two homicides. Sonny Valenzuela Lopez was shot and killed Sunday in Cupertino as a SWAT team tried to arrest him in connection with the March 1 shooting of his uncle, Larry Luis Lopez.

The government sent investigators Tuesday to examine a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway, and Toyota said it wanted to interview the driver as the besieged automaker dealt with a high-profile new headache that raised questions about the safety of its beloved hybrid. A day after state troopers helped the car slow to a stop and its driver to emerge unharmed, Toyota could shed no new light on what might have gone wrong.

Stanford University is looking into bringing back the Reserve Officer Training Corps nearly 40 years after the program was forced off campus. University officials say a faculty committee will study the possibility of inviting the ROTC back to Stanford. The ROTC was phased out at Stanford in 1970 after the Vietnam War sparked student protests against the military and the draft.

State employment officials are seeking a $33 million grant from  the federal government to help thousands of workers who will likely lose  their jobs when the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont  closes next month. The state Employment Development Department is anticipating that  more than 4,700 auto workers employed at the NUMMI plant will lose their  jobs, as well as perhaps 24,000 others employed by direct and indirect  suppliers of the company.

California energy regulators say they will soon begin investigating new Pacific Gas and Electric Co. meters that some customers have blamed for higher energy bills. The California Public Utilities Commission said Monday it expects to name a consultant later this week to probe the accuracy of the meters. The digital SmartMeters send information about a household's gas and electric use to the company through wireless signals.

Caltrain service has returned to normal while police investigate the discovery of a body near the South San Francisco station. Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn says the remains were found between two Union Pacific freight cars on a siding next to the tracks.  It remains unclear if the victim was struck by a train or suffered any other trauma.

Nearly 50 Bay Area schools are on an incomplete list of poorly performing campuses in a new report from the California Department of Education. The list includes schools in the all nine Bay Area counties except Napa. The state is listing the schools as "persistently low-achieving."  That's defined using a complex formula.