WASHINGTON – The federal government spent $62 million on a building to store and treat low-level radioactive waste at a California nuclear weapons laboratory, then decided the structure wasn’t secure enough. -more-

LOS ANGELES – An immigrant with alleged ties to the Russian mob pleaded guilty Thursday to helping orchestrate a deadly kidnapping plot targeting wealthy businessmen whose bodies were found in a Northern California reservoir. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco couple convicted on charges related to the fatal dog mauling of their neighbor were scheduled for sentencing Friday, though a judge first was expected to rule on a bid for a new trial. -more-

xSAN DIEGO – A judge fined R.J. Reynolds Co. $20 million Thursday, ruling that the maker of Winston and Camel cigarettes violated terms of the 1998 tobacco settlement by running magazine ads aimed at teen-agers. -more-

TRUCKEE – Police searched a former priest’s vacation home Thursday for clues into the disappearance of a girl who was last seen jumping rope in her front yard 14 years ago. -more-

SACRAMENTO – California must be ready to vaccinate entire regional populations in the event of a bioterrorist attack, the federal government said Thursday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – A man who helped rear a young boy since birth is his lawful father even though he is not the biological parent, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday. -more-

UPLAND – A small religious movement under attack for its followers’ devotion to faith healing and corporal punishment has backed away from those controversial tenets. -more-

BAKERSFIELD – An Amtrak train struck a pickup Thursday, hurling the driver 50 feet from his truck and breaking his leg. -more-

SACRAMENTO – The 260,000 state employees whose financial information was accessed by a computer hacker will get help making sure their credit ratings aren’t affected, Gov. Gray Davis said. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – California’s power supply dwindled as temperatures soared into triple digits this week, prompting managers of the state’s electricity grid to order power plant operators to forego scheduled maintenance so they could keep generating needed megawatts. -more-

SAN DIEGO – American Red Cross officials voted Thursday to remove the entire board of the agency’s troubled San Diego chapter, hoping to put to rest questions over the handling of aid for victims of a 2001 fire. -more-

NEW YORK – The New York Archdiocese says its annual fund drive is closing in on a record this year despite the sex scandal that has rocked the church. -more-

HERSHEY, Pa. — Hershey Foods Corp. and negotiators for 2,700 striking factory workers reached a tentative contract agreement Thursday that could end a 42-day strike, a company official said. -more-

WASHINGTON — The man suspected of masterminding the Sept. 11 terror attacks is believed to have once attended college in North Carolina and, in 1999, visited the German city where chief hijacker Mohammed Atta lived, U.S. officials said Thursday. -more-

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Endeavour closed in Thursday on the international space station, where three men eagerly awaited the arrival of their ride home. -more-

The University of California announced this week that it is temporarily suspending its fall 2002 study abroad program in India in light of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. -more-

Getaway blocked by bullets -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Thursday, June 6

Thursday, June 6

St. Mary’s High senior Chase Moore was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates during the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on Wednesday. The Pirates selected Moore with the 1153rd overall pick, the first selection of the 39th round. -more-

The last three months have been a “nightmare” for 24 year-old Israeli Roy Gordon. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

The playfulness of the venue, the beat from a live DJ and the exuberance of the cast make Impact Theater’s "Love is the Law" light up into a true party. And playwright Zay Amsbury is smart enough to know that no party is complete without a little drama. Raver-boy Kenzie, deadened to the rave “love drug” ecstasy because of overuse, is ready to leave the party - until he meets Sarah, and they hit it off. That night Sarah drops a bomb: she’s with the Drug Enforcement Agency. She’s not there to shut the drug-laden rave down – or is she? It all depends on Kenzie. -more-

YOKOHAMA, Japan – The U.S. team wasted no time rebounding from the bottom of the soccer world. -more-

News of a 75 percent price hike at Shattuck Avenue Self-Storage has prompted Berkeley leaders to question a 10-year-old, city-funded program that pays for storage lockers for the community’s homeless. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Cal senior second baseman Carson White was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 23rd round of the 2002 Major League Amateur Draft. -more-

Warm weather and high winds caused the California Department of Forestry to declare fire season early this year. The wind has dried grass rapidly. The warm temperatures have also fueled the dangerous conditions, say California fire safety officials. -more-

Berkeley’s library system will be doing its part to fight off summer doldrums. -more-

REDWOOD CITY – Worldwide semiconductor sales are expected to increase 3.1 percent in 2002 and jump 23.2 percent in 2003, according to a midyear forecast released Wednesday by an industry trade group. -more-

SAN JOSE – Internet auction leader eBay Inc. is trying to fight fraud on the site with a new software program that scans for suspicious listings and alerts company investigators, chief executive Meg Whitman said Wednesday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, say the state could see warmer temperatures and a smaller snowpack over the next half-century because of global warming, a change that could diminish water supplies in a state already familiar with drought. -more-

HANFORD– A priest accused of raping a 16-year-old girl who worked as a clerk in his parish will stand trial, a judge has ruled. -more-

LOS ANGELES – A dazzling solar eclipse will be on display across a broad swath of the western United States, Mexico, Canada and Asia on Monday, with as much as 99 percent of the sun obscured by the moon. -more-

Today is Wednesday, June 12, the 163rd day of 2002. There are 202 days left in the year. -more-

Jurors on Monday reached a partial verdict in the Bari vs. FBI and Oakland Police Department trial and could reach a final judgment today. -more-

SANTA ANA — Orange County authorities are seeking out potential victims of abuse by priests rather than waiting for people to file police reports. -more-

CHICO – An autopsy Friday could not determine for certain if the body of a young girl found buried in rural Butte County is the missing daughter of a man believed to have killed himself last week. -more-

Approximately 275 antiwar demonstrators converged at Martin Luther King Jr. park yesterday evening to kick off a nationwide protest of all aggression and violence against civilians. The coalition, “Not in our Name,” stands against war, Israeli occupation of the West Bank, increased aggression between India and Pakistan and the U.S. extending military to aid to be used against all people. -more-

LOS ANGELES – A 7-year-old boy whose body was found in a mansion pool days after he disappeared drowned accidentally, the coroner’s office said Wednesday. -more-

Bush proposing -more-