Gov. Jerry Brown will work with lawmakers to determine how some of the $54 million stashed by the parks department can be used to help keep state parks open, a spokeswoman for the governor said Monday as supporters who helped raise millions for the beleaguered system urged that the money be used for that purpose.

President Barack Obama told about 2,000 adoring supporters he needs a second term to finish delivering on his promises of restoring the American dream for all...Obama's visit stirred both his most ardent supporters and fiercest foes. Hundreds of medical cannabis advocates, angry over a recent federal crackdown on dispensaries, marched through downtown Oakland, passing equally thick crowds of Obama fans waiting in line to get into the Fox.

Mayor Ed Lee joined Monday with two of his rivals from last fall's election to announce a grand compromise for overhauling San Francisco's business tax that will result in a single measure going before voters in November. The ballot measure would change how the city levies its oft-criticized business tax, which brought in $410 million last year and is the second-biggest source of money for the general spending account. Property taxes generated $1 billion.

Bay Area home values increased at a sizzling pace in the second quarter, the online real estate site Zillow reported Tuesday, reinforcing hopes that at least some parts of the region are in the early stages of a housing market recovery. Home values increased 3.9 percent in San Francisco from the first quarter of this year; 3.79 percent in Santa Clara County; 2.75 percent in Alameda County; 2.18 percent in San Mateo County; and 1.47 percent in Contra Costa County.

A battle is looming in California courts over whether gun owners should be required to appear in person and be fingerprinted before being allowed to buy ammunition - like the thousands of rounds James Holmes reportedly purchased on the Internet in the weeks before he entered a Colorado movie theater for a deadly shooting rampage Friday morning.

Oakland police Lt. Fred Mestas is haunted by the day he came face-to-face with a robbery suspect who appeared to have a concealed shotgun, went to his radio to summon backup and got nothing but silence. The dreaded "CC scan" readout on his radio confirmed the obvious: He was in a dead spot where his transmission was somehow blocked. The silence lasted an agonizing 2 1/2 minutes.

Continuing to trim expenses amid growing competition and the sluggish economy, San Jose networking giant Cisco Systems said Monday it will lay off about 1,300 employees, a year after announcing 6,500 job cuts. The layoffs come as Cisco's sales have been relatively flat the past four quarters and some analysts doubted that they reflect a general weakening of the overall tech economy. However, others said the soured economic climate could have been a factor.

Sand at Ocean Beach has been shifting at historic levels, leading to more than 65 nonscheduled road closures on Great Highway so far this year, many of which lasted multiple days. So the National Park Service will soon begin transporting 100,000 cubic yards of excess sand — enough to fill 31 Olympic-size swimming pools — from in front of the O’Shaughnessy Seawall to an erosion-damaged area south of Sloat Boulevard.