A San Francisco judge has given prosecutors a week to retest drug samples in 35 pending narcotics cases following allegations that a technician at the police department's drug lab stole cocaine evidence. Superior Court Judge Charles Haines Friday delayed the cases until March 19.

A legal oversight is prompting South San Francisco officials to continue to give a break to drivers caught on camera running redlights. Because of contractual questions about a photo-enforcement program, police officers have begun giving warnings instead of tickets to red-light runners.

A long-running dispute over a Nazi salute given by an activist at  a Santa Cruz City Council meeting in 2002 will get another look from a  federal appeals court in San Francisco. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced Friday that an  11-judge panel will reconsider a ruling in which a smaller panel of the court  last year dismissed a free-speech lawsuit filed by Robert Norse.

A San Francisco judge has ordered the University of California to pay back $38 million in improperly raised fees for almost 3,000 graduate students. Superior Court Judge John Munter on Thursday ruled that the 10-campus system must reverse up to three years of fee increases for former students who attended professional schools.

Three Hayward men accused of targeting a San Francisco man they  thought was gay with a BB gun last month were taken into custody in San  Francisco Superior Court Friday after prosecutors said they intended to file  additional charges related to several other possible victims.

An atheist who lost a challenge to the use of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools has said the case isn’t over and has promised further appeals.  On Thursday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco by a 2-1 vote rejected a lawsuit filed by Michael Newdow, an atheist father, emergency room doctor and lawyer from Sacramento.

The shutdown of drug testing at the San Francisco Police  Department's crime lab caused another 30 narcotics cases to be let go by San  Francisco prosecutors Friday, while 35 more set to go to trial were put on  hold. Police are investigating 60-year-old Deborah Madden, a former  crime lab supervisor who retired from the department March 1, for allegedly  taking small amounts of cocaine from evidence beginning in October.

After dropping out of the gubernatorial race last year, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Friday that he is running for lieutenant governor. Newsom's announcement was not a surprise. He filed papers on Feb. 17 with the secretary of state's office, the first steps to becoming a statewide candidate again.

A Toyota executive said Thursday the company is "mystified" by a report that a California man's Prius gas pedal became stuck and caused the car to speed out of control on a California freeway. James Sikes quickly became the face of the Toyota gas pedal scandal after he called 911 to report losing control of his Prius on Monday. His car reached nerve-rattling speeds of 94 mph before an officer helped bring it to a stop.

San Francisco's revenue from tourism dropped nearly 8 percent in 2009 amid global financial uncertainty, according to a report released this week. The report, an annual estimate of the economic impact of the tourism industry in San Francisco was released by the Convention & Visitors Bureau, a nonprofit organization promoting tourism in the city.