California elections officials hope to make signing up to vote easier than ever through an online registration system that launched Wednesday.

The Justice Department's internal watchdog on Wednesday faulted the agency for misguided strategies, errors in judgment and management failures during a bungled gun-trafficking probe in Arizona that disregarded public safety and resulted in hundreds of weapons turning up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico.

A new Field Poll shows likely voters in California overwhelmingly favor President Barack Obama over Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

NEW YORK — Avon Products Inc.'s legal woes may finally be on the wane.

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. — Beef Products Inc. sued ABC News, Inc. for defamation last week over its coverage of a meat product that critics dub "pink slime," claiming the network damaged the company by misleading consumers into believing it is unhealthy and unsafe.

A California State University panel approved a plan Tuesday to raise tuition by 5 percent early next year if voters reject Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative and trigger a $250 million funding cut to the 23-campus system.

Eighteen immigrants have sued the federal government to allege they were wrongly denied entry into a program that grants legal residency to foreign entrepreneurs.

A Los Angeles physician's assistant was sentenced to six years in prison for stealing doctors' identities to write fraudulent prescriptions in an $18.9 million Medicare fraud scheme, federal prosecutors said.

The acting police chief of Fullerton said Tuesday there was no evidence that a mentally ill transient was committing any crime the night he got into a violent struggle with police that led to his death.

A San Francisco Bay area divorce lawyer has been indicted for an eavesdropping scheme involving the planting of listening devices in the cars of her clients' spouses.

Space shuttle Endeavour has landed in Houston for a one-day stop on its trek west to retirement in a California museum.

Supervisors have given initial approval to a five-year deal with Shell Energy North America that gives San Francisco residents the option of getting 100 percent of their power from renewable sources.

Fourteen former employees at a California aquatic center are asking for their jobs back after they were fired following a video posted on the Internet showing them performing a parody of a viral Korean music video.

California officials have warned 49 school districts that they have a disproportionate number of black students in special education programs.

A San Diego mother has been sentenced to 15 years to life for the second-degree murder of her 9-year-old daughter last year.

Two Los Angeles police officers have been taken to a hospital for examination after their squad car hit a light pole.

Two men linked to a Mexico drug cartel have pleaded not guilty to possession of 18 pounds of methamphetamine and eight weapons, including three assault rifles and a .50-caliber sniper rifle.

Trial resumes Wednesday for a chef who told investigators he accidentally killed his wife and then cooked her body for four days in boiling water to get rid of the evidence.

Space shuttle Endeavour embarked on its new life as a museum piece Wednesday, leaving behind its NASA home and heading west on the last ferry flight of its kind.

Leaders of a Southern California city agree: A park allowing dogs and horses is a bad idea.

Modesto water officials are no longer negotiating with San Francisco to sell Tuolumne River water to the coastal city.

NEW YORK — The distinctive red soles of Christian Louboutin shoes are entitled to trademark protection, even if the company can't exactly call the color its own, a federal appeals court said earlier this month.

Some Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies are taking photographs of people cited for traffic violations and minor crimes in an effort to prevent mistaken identity arrests later.

Lawyers for a prominent professional tennis referee charged with the coffee-cup killing of her husband have lost a bid to block prosecutors from taking a sample of her DNA.

Drivers using the Golden Gate Bridge will see the anticipated major change from human toll-takers to an all-electronic toll system beginning early next year.

On Mars, a partial eclipse of the sun isn't quite as rare as on Earth. So NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is snapping hundreds of pictures of the spectacle for the folks back home to ooh and aah over.

A new law will protect California businesses, especially small-business owners, from frivolous lawsuits filed under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The San Diego Stock Exchange Index closed lower Wednesday at 122.18, down 0.50 percent from Tuesday. Declining issues beat advancers 48 to 33, and 59 issues were unchanged.
San Diego Trust Bank (OTC: SDBK) was the top dollar gainer, up 70 cents to $12.45.
Cymer Inc. (Nasdaq: CYMI) was the top dollar loser, down $1.71 to $55.75.
For the complete, updated San Diego Stock Exchange Index visit sddt.com/stocks.