Elections Department encourages early voting

Girl dies after TV set falls on top of her

The face of local government is blond and blue-eyed, with a mellow voice that conveys sincerity and a wry sense of humor.

As a black Hummer limousine pulled into Redwood Middle School on Friday, students began to whisper excitedly and shuffle their feet in anticipation. They were going to ride in style to a free "limousine lunch" at In-N-Out Burgers as a reward for helping to raise funds to support extracurricular programs.

Chase ends with arrests after suspect jumps out of moving car

While the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation decides what to do with the Lake Berryessa shoreline, many resort and mobile home owners are bracing themselves for the outcome.

MANASSAS PARK, Va. -- As a high school principal, Bruce McDade is in charge of student learning, morale and safety. So he's become adept at interior design.

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's opinions on abortion, discrimination and other contentious issues are the work of a mainstream jurist, not the ideologue depicted by critics, the White House argues in a voluminous briefing book meant for Republican senators.

NEW YORK -- Undoubtedly, there would be tumult -- likely roiling every statehouse in the nation. Beyond that, little is certain about what would unfold if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the divisive 1973 decision establishing a woman's right to have an abortion.

HOUSTON -- A small jet crashed Saturday at one of the city's airports after being instructed to take off quickly because of an incoming airliner. Both people on the jet were killed.

GLENDALE -- A cemetery was barred from holding new burials after state investigators found the cremated remains of as many as 4,000 people stacked in storage rooms and tossed in a trash bin.

FRESNO -- Claudia Valdez knows what can happen when a pregnant girl's family gets involved in her decision to have a child or an abortion. A pink business card the 16-year-old tucked in her purse five months ago reminds her.

SACRAMENTO -- Women who planned to protest topless at the state Capitol Monday can be busted if they go ahead with their bare-chested demonstration, a federal judge said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's name will not appear on the ballot Tuesday, when California voters go to the polls to consider initiatives he says are crucial to reshape state government.

SAN DIEGO -- Warren Beatty and his wife, Annette Bening, on Saturday attempted to crash a campaign appearance by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who sought to drum up last-minute support for a group of statewide ballot measures.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, took their royal tour of the United States to Northern California on Saturday, examining local produce at a market and lunching with locals at an organic farm near San Francisco.

ACHERES, France -- Youths armed with gasoline bombs fanned out from Paris' poor, troubled suburbs to shatter the tranquility of leafier towns, torching 900 vehicles, a nursery school and other targets Saturday in the worst wave of arson since the urban violence began more than a week ago.

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Pirates armed with grenade launchers and machine guns tried to hijack a luxury cruise liner off the east African coast Saturday, but the ship outran them, officials said.