Documents show that the U.S. Maritime Administration knew about the dangers of peeling paint from a fleet of old warships in Suisun Bay as far back as 1997. An unsigned, internal memo recently obtained by the Contra Costa Times said in 1997 that cleanup of the ships was "essential."

Police are investigating whether a 28-year-old Antioch man who  appears to have shot himself in the head Sunday night during a Super Bowl  party committed suicide or shot himself accidentally, Antioch police Lt.  Leonard Orman said Monday. Police were called to the man's house at 910 San Carlos Drive at  10:44 p.m. and found the victim in front of the house. He had been shot once  in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Police are reporting that a Vallejo man who was shot to death early Monday morning was the  father of a 17-year-old boy who was arrested Friday on suspicion of beating  and robbing a city worker on Feb. 1. According to police Lt. Abel Tenorio, 42-year-old Matthew Allen Hicks was shot in the head outside a home at  435 Fairgrounds Drive at about 12:50 a.m. He was pronounced  dead at the scene.

A 36-year-old man was fatally shot early Saturday morning in Vallejo, according to police. Vallejo police dispatch received a 911 call from Parkway Liquors at 1601 Lewis Brown Road at about 12:50 a.m. Store employees told police someone had been shot. An officer went to the liquor store and found Marico Whitemon in front of the store.

Police say they’ve arrested two teens in connection with the brutal mob beating of a Vallejo city worker on February 2nd. The juveniles, who are 15 and 17 years old, were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery and robbery. Their names are not being released due to their age.

Oakland attorney John Burris is accusing BART officials and  their lawyer of putting out "misleading" and "false" information about  settlement discussions on behalf of family members of Oscar Grant III, who  was killed by a BART police officer last year. At a news conference Friday, Burris said he is "angry" and that comments by BART and its  lawyer have jeopardized a $1.5 million settlement for Grant's 5-year-old  daughter, Tatiana, that was announced last week and "undermined the progress"  toward a potential settlement for Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson.

Vallejo police have arrested a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of being an accomplice in the shooting of an ice cream truck driver Wednesday. Police also said they have recovered the gun used in the shooting.

People who use Google Earth are now able to view the ongoing  construction of the Bay Bridge's new self-anchored suspension span to monitor  the construction process. Users of the program, which allows people to pinpoint locations  around the world using satellite imagery and maps, can see which parts of the  bridge have been lifted into place. The first shipment of parts arrived from China last month, and the  first deck section of the span was hoisted into place earlier this week.

A Federal Transit Administration report indicates the first phase  of the BART extension project to San Jose is qualified to receive millions of  dollars in federal funding, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority  announced this week. The VTA will now be able to compete with other transit agencies  across the country for the funds as part of the transit administration's New  Starts Program.

A 47-year-old man was charged with attempted murder Thursday for  allegedly repeatedly striking a woman in her head with a hammer after the  pair got into a fight over a winning lottery ticket in Antioch, police said. The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office charged Bradley  Ruffin, of Antioch, with attempted murder, battery with great bodily injury,  assault with a deadly weapon and robbery in connection with the Jan. 26  attack on the 39-year-old woman, police said.

The trial of a parolee accused of stabbing a 14-year-old girl at a San Francisco bakery in 2007 gets under way Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court. Scott Thomas, now 29, is charged with two counts of attempted murder, one count of aggravated mayhem and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

A San Francisco nightclub that was the scene of a shooting early  Sunday morning that left one person dead and four others injured agreed Monday to temporarily close its doors, according to the mayor's office. The Suede nightclub at 383 Bay St., near Fisherman's Wharf, has  been the scene of violent incidents in the past, city officials said.

The criminal prosecution of a man suspected in stabbing several  people on San Francisco public transit last year will move forward, after the  man's attorney agreed his client is mentally competent to stand trial.

A San Mateo County Superior Court judge Monday morning sentenced  26-year-old Alberto Alvarez to death by lethal injection for killing East  Palo Alto police Officer Richard May in 2006. "The circumstances of the murder were particularly savage and  brutal," Judge Craig Parsons said before imposing the sentence. "Death is  warranted."

A bizarre chain of events left two people injured and a San Francisco neighborhood soaking wet when a city bus struck a fire hydrant. It all began Sunday evening when a Municipal Railway rider was exiting a bus using its extended wheelchair lift. Muni spokesman Judson True says the customer fell from the lift and was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.

Daly City police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run in which a  male victim was intentionally struck by a sport utility vehicle after a fight  outside a pizza restaurant Sunday night, a police sergeant said. At about 8 p.m., a fight began at a Little Caesar's Pizza  restaurant near the intersection of King Drive and Callan Boulevard, Daly  City police Sgt. David Mackriss said.

San Bruno police are warning residents about a series of daytime burglaries in the community. San Bruno Police Cmdr. Matt Campi says since Dec. 13 seven homes have been broken into. Investigators say all the homes that have been targeted are near open-space areas or are separated by a strip a land from other homes.

All-time greats Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith led a class of seven into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. The NFL's career receiving and rushing leaders were joined in the Hall by John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau. Little and LeBeau were elected as senior committee nominees.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom says he will force property owners to retrofit buildings that are vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake. He released a plan he says will help property owners pay for it. Newsom told a group of earthquake engineers on Friday that he supports mandatory retrofitting for some 2,800 so-called soft-story buildings considered most at risk

Police are reporting that a 34-year-old man suspected in the sexual assault of a 17-year-old  girl in a San Francisco park restroom last month has now been accused of a  separate attack on another woman in December. Manuel Dejesus, a transient originally from El Salvador, was  arrested Jan. 16 following the alleged attack on the girl that day inside a  public restroom at Garfield Park in the Mission District.

Authorities say a woman fell about 60 feet to her death after she chased her dog off a cliff in the Mendocino headlands. Danny Hervilla, chief of the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department, says witnesses saw the woman disappear over the cliff while running after her black dog Sunday evening. He says the woman's body was recovered from a small, rocky beach area, where high tides and rough surf threatened to pull the body out to sea.

Police are reporting that a Vallejo man who was shot to death early Monday morning was the  father of a 17-year-old boy who was arrested Friday on suspicion of beating  and robbing a city worker on Feb. 1. According to police Lt. Abel Tenorio, 42-year-old Matthew Allen Hicks was shot in the head outside a home at  435 Fairgrounds Drive at about 12:50 a.m. He was pronounced  dead at the scene.

A 36-year-old man was fatally shot early Saturday morning in Vallejo, according to police. Vallejo police dispatch received a 911 call from Parkway Liquors at 1601 Lewis Brown Road at about 12:50 a.m. Store employees told police someone had been shot. An officer went to the liquor store and found Marico Whitemon in front of the store.

Police say they’ve arrested two teens in connection with the brutal mob beating of a Vallejo city worker on February 2nd. The juveniles, who are 15 and 17 years old, were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery and robbery. Their names are not being released due to their age.

Vallejo police have arrested a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of being an accomplice in the shooting of an ice cream truck driver Wednesday. Police also said they have recovered the gun used in the shooting.

People who use Google Earth are now able to view the ongoing  construction of the Bay Bridge's new self-anchored suspension span to monitor  the construction process. Users of the program, which allows people to pinpoint locations  around the world using satellite imagery and maps, can see which parts of the  bridge have been lifted into place. The first shipment of parts arrived from China last month, and the  first deck section of the span was hoisted into place earlier this week.

San Francisco Beer Week beginning Friday is giving local craft beer  advocates a chance to showcase the brewing bounty of an area better known for  wine. SF Beer Week is a bit of a misnomer. The event runs 10 days,  through Feb. 14, and includes events both free and otherwise from Healdsburg  to Santa Cruz. The event debuted last year, formally uniting a handful of smaller  festivals and events at venues around the region, according to Beer Week  director and brewer Rich Higgins.

A University of California Santa Cruz student is dead after police say he fell next to the railroad tracks and struck his head in an alcohol-related incident. Santa Cruz police believe the 21-year-old man was walking alone near the tracks late Saturday or early Sunday when he slipped on the loose gravel and fell down an embankment. A woman jogging by the tracks found the body Sunday morning and told authorities.

Officials at San Jose State University say federal stimulus money will allow the university to offer additional classes and break up some larger classes into smaller ones. The university says it will be receiving $3.1 million in one-time stimulus funds. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed says the extra money should help students make faster progress in attaining degrees at San Jose State.

People who use Google Earth are now able to view the ongoing  construction of the Bay Bridge's new self-anchored suspension span to monitor  the construction process. Users of the program, which allows people to pinpoint locations  around the world using satellite imagery and maps, can see which parts of the  bridge have been lifted into place. The first shipment of parts arrived from China last month, and the  first deck section of the span was hoisted into place earlier this week.

San Francisco Beer Week beginning Friday is giving local craft beer  advocates a chance to showcase the brewing bounty of an area better known for  wine. SF Beer Week is a bit of a misnomer. The event runs 10 days,  through Feb. 14, and includes events both free and otherwise from Healdsburg  to Santa Cruz. The event debuted last year, formally uniting a handful of smaller  festivals and events at venues around the region, according to Beer Week  director and brewer Rich Higgins.

A Federal Transit Administration report indicates the first phase  of the BART extension project to San Jose is qualified to receive millions of  dollars in federal funding, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority  announced this week. The VTA will now be able to compete with other transit agencies  across the country for the funds as part of the transit administration's New  Starts Program.