in the Santa Monica Mountains east of Malibu's Circle X Ranch.

Prosecutors are investigating whether a former appraiser already charged with 60 felonies in the far-reaching probe of Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez was illegally lowering property values for tax purposes before Noguez's election.

Sacramento County officials say a sheriff's deputy fatally shot a man who was armed when he emerged from a home where he had barricaded himself.

More than 300 firefighters are battling a wildfire that threatens about 100 homes and other structures in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Northern California.

As afternoon and evening winds picked up, firefighters in rural Riverside County said they don't know when they'll be able to fully contain a 355-acre wildfire that has been burning since Wednesday and has destroyed one home.

State medical board officials say a Los Angeles plastic surgeon who has appeared on the television show “The Doctors” has been charged with secretly videotaping two patients who had undressed for examinations.

More than 400 firefighters are struggling to contain a fire that threatens dozens of trailer homes and other structures in the Plumas National Forest in Northern California.

California's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for a San Diego County man who tortured and killed his 4-year-old niece.

A California judge has settled a power struggle in Fresno County by giving the Board of Supervisors management authority over the sheriff's office.

A parolee's desperate escape attempt during a San Jose traffic stop has left two officers injured.

A motorist who got out of his car with a replica handgun has been shot to death by police at the end of an hour-long California central coast chase.

An appeals court has tossed out a corruption conviction against the former mayor of Compton.

A jury has awarded more than $450,000 to a man who was investigated by a Los Angeles County sheriff's detective he claimed was having an affair with his wife.

As demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables has increased, so too has the number of urban farmers markets sprouting up across the nation.

Los Angeles attorney Molly Munger has donated another $5 million to her November tax initiative.

Some 100,000 Catholics are preparing to venerate the Virgin of Guadalupe in Los Angeles on Sunday, in what is believed to be the largest celebration of Mexico's most beloved saint outside of that country in 75 years.

Gov. Jerry Brown's finance department will release a detailed review of California's 560 special funds on Friday, an effort that began after revelations that the state parks department had failed to report nearly $54 million in two such funds.

Authorities believe they've caught the so-called Plain Jane Bandit who robbed eight Southern California banks over three weeks.

The San Diego Stock Exchange Index closed higher Friday at 117.35, up 1.55 percent from Thursday. Advancing issues beat decliners 55 to 24, and 62 issues were unchanged.