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Share the Spirit: Concord agency takes pain out of being a kid
Child Abuse Prevention Council provides safety net programs for at-risk children. 

 

Union Bank in Oakland closes after dozens of protesters occupy a downtown branch
A downtown branch of Union Bank closed early Tuesday because of an Occupy Oakland protest over a foreclosure, and several other Occupy demonstrators were arrested earlier in the day when they tried to stop a housing auction outside a courthouse. 

 
Slideshow: Al Davis: July 4 1929 - October 8, 2011
Al Davis, the iconic owner of the Oakland Raiders who built a pro football team in his own image, moved it to Los Angeles and then back again, has died at age 82. 

 

Database shows $12.2 billion in Bay Area public employee salaries
A hospital administrator in Alameda County, a deputy police chief in San Francisco and a physician in Santa Clara County grossed more than $500,000 each in pay last year - the top three 2009 salaries in a database containing 200,000 public employees now available online. 

 

Oakland woman cares for Alzheimer's-stricken husband while educating others about it
Since Gerri Woolfolk's husband was diagnosed 12 years ago, she has worked tirelessly to both care for him and to bring awareness to others about a disease that frequently makes both patient and caregiver feel helpless. 

 

 

Vallejo marijuana dispensary raided by feds, state and local officials
Facility emptied of marijuana plants, employee says 

 

For refugees, leaving California a gamble
"Secondary migration" pushing newly arrived Bay Area immigrants to other states.

Special Section: Bhutan: A Journey From Conflict  

 

Gay marriage ban supporters seek second review by circuit court ruling
Move seen as way to shore up case for ban on its way to Supreme Court  

 

Video: ABC video details upcoming Jaycee Dugard interview  
 
 

Three East Bay ZIP codes, life-and-death disparities
Richard Angelis lives in Walnut Creek on a tree-lined street in ZIP code 94597, where life expectancy is 87.4 years. But 12 miles southwest of Angelis' home, in the Oakland neighborhood of Sobrante Park, there are nights when Calixto Orantes, 53, hits the ground in a cold sweat inside his small rented home as gunfire erupts nearby. He lives in ZIP code 94603, where life expectancy plunges to 71.2 years. 

 

Caution: Crisis ahead
From BART to Caltrain to the Valley Transportation Authority, every Bay Area transit agency has hiked fares and reduced train and bus service to plug deep budget holes. But the changes have produced fewer riders and even less revenue '” leading some to worry that the transit system has entered a death spiral. 

 

Federal jury rejects brutality claim against former BART officer
A federal San Francisco jury found that former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle and the other officers did nothing wrong when they arrested Kenneth Carrethers two years ago after the Oakland resident criticized the officers for being lazy and then, according to the officers, walked behind a cop with his fist clenched. 

 

Road to college just got bumpier
California high school students with their sights set on a public university better step up their game, admissions officers and guidance counselors say. An unprecedented time of upheaval and funding cuts in the state university systems will leave less room for narrowly missed deadlines, poor senior-year grades and incomplete course work 

 

Oakland's fallen officers remembered during annual ceremony
A name is read aloud. A date. Then silence, broken only by the sound of heels clicking against the white, shiny floor of the Oakland Police Department lobby. A wife, a mother, a son or a sister — stoic and composed, or blinking back tears — walks past fellow mourners to add a white rose to a badge-shaped display of red carnations