Six months after Oakland Mayor Jean Quan vowed to shower what she called the most violent blocks of Oakland with extra police and social services, the Police Department says it will reduce the number of officers in those areas.

California voters will decide in November whether to abolish the nation's largest death row by replacing capital punishment with life in prison without possibility of parole. Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office announced Monday that supporters of the SAFE California Act of 2012 had submitted enough petition signatures to qualify their measure for November's ballot.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said Monday the city is in "uncharted territory" as he tries to remove suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from office on official misconduct charges.

Despite a campaign to get BART's new fleet of cars built entirely in the good old U.S. of A., the transit agency's staff Monday recommended that Bombardier, a Canadian rail car manufacturer, should get the $1.5 billion contract for 775 new cars.

Just as San Jose residents are getting used to the city's plastic bag ban, the City Council on Tuesday is expected to ban plastic foam food containers in city facilities and at programs and events in city venues. Tuesday's move could also be the first step toward a citywide ban on such containers, which would make San Jose the largest city in California -- and possibly the nation -- to bar businesses from using the material.

Responding to parent pressure after the disappearance of Sierra La Mar, the Morgan Hill Unified School District on Monday began notifying parents in the morning as well as evening if their children don't show up to school. The district's automatic calling system will inform parents of any unexcused absences at 10:30 a.m., in addition to the previous 6 p.m. notification.

A new report by the San Mateo County Grand Jury has found that the county Office of Emergency Services has yet to follow through on improvements recommended after the September 2010 pipeline explosion in San Bruno, and urged the county to upgrade its Emergency Operation Center.

The former nursing student accused of killing seven people at a small Oakland university has refused to eat since being jailed, saying he is ashamed of what he did, jail officials said Monday.

One of Chinatown’s oldest and most storied restaurants was forced to shut down Friday due to health, fire and building code violations, but owners want to find a way to keep it running.