A wide range of California voters are willing to give Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative the support it needs in November, but that could change in a hurry if the Legislature approves billions of dollars for the proposed high-speed rail project later this week, a new Field Poll shows.

Scientists announced Wednesday that nature's most elusive and fundamental subnuclear particle has almost certainly been discovered, and Bay Area physicists who have sought it for decades were amazed, delighted and determined to pin it down at last.

Nearly three-quarters of California voters oppose the automatic, midyear spending reductions that would balance the state budget if a November ballot initiative to raise taxes fails, according to a new Field Poll.

Top Muni officials were told two years ago that the agency had been inflating on-time arrival rates of buses for a decade, but they failed to address the issue. In a memo to top executives, Muni's chief information officer detailed the accounting maneuvers that were boosting the numbers reported to the public by as much as 18 percent.

Oakland is poised to become the first city to cut ties with Goldman Sachs if the investment bank refuses to cancel an investment deal that will cost the city nearly $4 million this year. Responding to demands from union and community leaders, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to stop doing business with Goldman if no agreement is reached on canceling the investment within 70 days.

Spirit Airlines plans to offer nonstop routes connecting Oakland International Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport starting April 25.

In a discovery that widens a lens into lives not yet lived, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers have for the first time determined an unborn child's genome with nothing but a blood sample from the mother. This new approach to genetic testing, the scientists say, could expand families' ability to screen for potential disorders in fetuses without the risk of miscarriage that comes with conventional tests. In a few years, the testing could be part of a routine trip to the doctor.

One of the largest Fourth of July fireworks shows in the nation was ruined in San Diego Wednesday after a glitch caused all the pyrotechnics to ignite all at once.