The San Diego Stock Exchange Index closed higher Thursday at 102.53, up 1.87 percent from Wednesday. Advancing issues beat decliners 77 to 21, and 62 issues were unchanged. Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) was the top dollar gainer, up $2.25 to $43.85. Leap Wireless Intl Inc (NASDAQ: LEAP) was the top dollar loser, down 90 cents to $13.03.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles police say DNA evidence links a convicted murderer to the 1997 killings of a North Hollywood woman and her mentally disabled son.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California environmental regulators have proposed forcing the Boeing Co. and NASA to clean up chemical and radioactive pollution at a 2,800-acre research site in eastern Ventura County.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The wife of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt lost her bid to be reinstated as the team's chief executive Thursday during a hearing in the couple's messy divorce.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Police have arrested a fourth person in an attack on two San Jose boys who were out trick-or-treating. Investigators believe the victims were mistaken for rival gang members.

FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) -- A father and son have been killed by a freight train while train watching in Orange County.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ignoring a Republican boycott, Senate Democrats pushed a precedent-setting climate bill through a key committee Thursday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California corrections officials say they're working to improve the monitoring of released sex offenders, responding to a scathing report that cited missed chances to catch the suspect accused of holding Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years.

FALLON, Nev. (AP) -- A 19-year-old Fallon man has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison in connection with a shooting in Fallon in June.

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) -- The Sparks City Council has agreed to continue its membership in the Nevada League of Cities even though some members don't think the statewide lobbying group does enough to help their town.

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons says he has appointed the manager of a job placement and training firm to the state's economic development commission.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- San Jose officials have ordered the release of 911 recordings and reports in the May fatal shooting by police of a mentally ill man.

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) -- A Glendale man is getting a refund after getting billed $5,500 for allegedly using 1.5 million gallons of water at his home.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Los Angeles County grand jury has charged a convicted serial killer with three more murders.

RAMONA, Calif. (AP) -- Fifty-four feral cats captured on San Nicholas Island are settling in at a wildlife center northeast of San Diego.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) -- Santa Cruz leaders are considering clamping down on the city's nightclubs, with police complaining that they've created security issues downtown.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" has been invited to stump for a challenger's bid to be Orange County's next sheriff.

COLUSA, Calif. (AP) -- A Stockton bus driver has been sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for a crash that killed 11 people in Colusa County last year.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Two 16-year-old boys have been arrested for the murder of a 16-year-old girl who was shot following a homecoming football game in Long Beach.