All the early-morning pickleweed planting, all the garbage bags full of fast-food wrappers, and all the endless volunteer hours have finally paid off: San Francisco's gritty southeastern waterfront is so clean a family of rare raptors has moved in and set up house.

Jorge Herrera, a 33-year-old jockey who had ridden sparingly over the past three years, died from head injuries sustained when he was thrown from his mount in the eighth race Thursday at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton.

Scott Peterson appeals death sentence (SJ Mercury News)

Eight years after he was sentenced to death for the murders of his wife and unborn son, Scott Peterson has filed an automatic appeal to the California Supreme Court. Death penalty lawyer Cliff Gardner filed the 423-page document Thursday. A San Mateo County jury found the former fertilizer salesman guilty of suffocating Laci and dumping her in the San Francisco Bay on Christmas Eve 2002.

A federal judge has granted preliminary approval to Netflix's (NFLX) $9 million settlement of class-action litigation accusing the video rental company of violating consumer privacy laws. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose said the accord reached in February "compares favorably" to recent settlements of other consumer privacy cases, including with Google (GOOG) and Facebook.

The laborious inquest into whether suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi should be permanently removed from office seems certain to grow more complex as the panel is asked to consider perjury allegations related to recent testimony by Mayor Ed Lee.

After more than three years with a temporary leader, Petaluma has hired a permanent police chief. Patrick Williams, police chief since 2007 in the Southern California city of Desert Hot Springs, has accepted an offer to lead Petaluma’s department, said City Manager John Brown. He fills the position Danny Fish has held on an interim basis since April 2009.

Almost ready. Freshly scrubbed and decked out in patriotic bunting, the battleship Iowa opens to the public on Saturday. After years of planning and work, that's when the World War II icon begins its new life as an interactive museum on San Pedro's waterfront.

Cheese made by Andante Dairy in Petaluma is the subject of a recall and quarantine order announced Tuesday by the state Department of Food and Agriculture. The recalled cheeses were sold in sizes from five to eight ounces, with no code date or variety information on the packages.

On the first business day of the California foie gras ban, three plaintiffs have already filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction... New York-based Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Canadian non-profit Association des Eleveurs de Canards et d’Oies du Québec and Southern California’s Hot’s Restaurant Group, Inc. have filed a complaint against Attorney General Kamala Harris and Governor Jerry Brown. The complaint seeks “to declare invalid and enjoin enforcement” of the foie gras ban “for violation of the fifth and fourteenth amendments and the commerce clause of the Union States Constitution.”