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Pardoned Mississippi murderer drops out of sight
Romney faces Medicare attacks in Fla.
Bennett: Romney's new tack is working
U.S. to send MIA team to North Korea
Resident near Fukushima defiant
Deaths rise in Syria; U.N. mulls draft
Experts split on planned Pentagon cuts
Aveeno baby lotion tubes recalled
How a child killer's story unraveled

Fading Gingrich falls behind in polls

By Jane Sutton | MIAMI (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich struggled to regain momentum in the Republican presidential race on Friday as two new polls showed him falling behind rival Mitt Romney, who was seen as the winner of the final debate before the Florida

Long Road Ahead for Conn. Home Invasion Survivor

How does a man move on with his life after losing his wife and daughters to two ruthless home invaders who tormented, then killed them? For more than four years, a nation both disgusted and captivated by a chilling crime in prototypical suburbia has

Student charged in Utah school bomb plot

ROY, Utah (AP) â?? Authorities on Friday charged an 18-year-old man with possession of a weapon of mass destruction after they say he and another teenager planned to bomb a Utah high school. By Jim Urquhart, AP Students exit Roy High School Friday in Roy

Last man on moon, other space leaders backing Romney

A heavy-lift rocket carrying NASA's Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle launches on the Exploration Test Flight 1 in this still from a NASA video. The test flight, targeted for 2014, would test vital Orion systems and re-entry techniques for deep space

Twitter boycott looms with censorship accusations

by Dara Kerr January 27, 2012 7:53 PM PST Follow @darakerr Some Twitter users are trying to wield the organizing power of the social-networking site against the site itself: they're using the hashtags #TwitterBlackout, #TwitterCensored,

webOS daddy Jon Rubinstein exits HP

Jon Rubinstein, late of NeXT, FirePower, Apple, and Palm, has resigned from his position at HP, where he endured the mismanagement and eventual overboarding of Palm's webOS mobile operating system. "Jon Rubinstein has fulfilled his commitment to HP,"

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can't opt out

Google said Tuesday it will follow the activities of users across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of its privacy and competitive practices. The information will enable Google

Apple says it's 'attacking' supply chain problems

Apple is "attacking problems" with conditions at its supply factories and is committed to educating workers about their rights, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in an e-mail to his employees. The letter, carried on the website 9to5mac.com,

Two men plead no contest in officer shooting case

Two associates of a Union City gang member who's been sentenced to life in state prison for shooting and nearly killing a Fremont police officer in Oakland in 2010 pleaded no contest this week to being accessories in the case.

Andrew Barrientos, a 21-year-old Union City man, was sentenced last month for shooting Fremont police Officer Todd Young in East Oakland on Aug. 27, 2010.

Barrientos, a member of the Decoto Nortenos gang, was convicted of the attempted murder of a police officer and nine other felony counts plus enhancement clauses that he was acting to benefit a gang and was involved in street terrorism.

The shooting occurred when Young and Officer Eric Tang, who are members of the Southern Alameda County Major Crimes Task Force, attempted to arrest Barrientos on an outstanding warrant.

Young spent more than seven weeks at Highland Hospital in Oakland and still hasn't returned to work but said last month that he hopes to come back to his job later this year.

Francisco Sierra, a 32-year-old Union City man who met up with Barrientos shortly after the shooting and drove him from Hayward to Union City, pleaded no contest on Monday to being an accessory and will be sentenced on March 9, prosecutor John Brouhard said.

Sierra will be placed on probation and given credit for the time he's already spent in the county jail, Brouhard said.

Gustavo Silva, a 25-year-old Union City man who drove with Barrientos to Southern California near the Mexican border, where they were arrested, pleaded no contest on Tuesday to being an accessory and will be sentenced on March 30.

Silva will be given a three-year state prison term but he will be released on March 30 because he will have accumulated enough time in jail, plus credits, to complete his sentence, Brouhard said.

Man killed after car hits power pole

 A 19-year-old man died in a solo car crash in San Jose Friday afternoon, police said.

The man was driving a silver 2005 Toyota east on Yerba Buena Avenue, near San Felipe Road, when he lost control and struck a power pole, police said.

Officers responded to the scene at 3:36 p.m. and the man was pronounced dead at around 3:50 p.m., police said.

The victim's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Police are investigating excessive speed as a possible factor in the crash. It was not known if alcohol or drugs were a factor, although police said they do not suspect intoxication.

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the department's traffic investigations unit at (408) 277-4654 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867.

Police release sketch of November hate crime suspect

San Jose police today released a sketch of one of two suspects who attacked an East Indian man and called him a 'terrorist' in November.

The attack happened on Nov. 21 in a parking lot in the 3200 block of South White Road.

Police said several males approached the victim, a 32-year-old East Indian man, as he was leaving the parking lot in his car, and one of them yelled out "terrorist."

The other suspect then opened the victim's car door and the first suspect struck the victim in the head with a liquor bottle, said police.

The victim managed to get away and call police. He drove himself to a hospital where he was treated for a jaw injury, according to police.

The suspects remain at-large.

The main suspect, whose sketch police released, was described as a Hispanic man with medium complexion, standing between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds.

Little information is available about the second suspect, other than that he is in his 20s.

Detectives are investigating the case as a hate crime.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police Detective Michael Villanueva at (408) 277-4161. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP (7867) or visit http://svcrimestoppers.org/.

KTVU debuts new set, graphics Saturday night

KTVU Channel 2 will unveil a new set and graphic package Saturday night during the 10 p.m. news.

The news station is trying to evolve and modernize, while also maintaining its history and legacy.

The new set, designed by Broadcast Design International, and graphics, designed by Hothaus Creative, translate into a modern presentation that is both warm and sophisticated.

"Our goal was to contemporize the graphics and set while maintaining the pedigree of the KTVU news brand," said Tom Raponi, KTVU/KICU vice president and general manager. "I'm very proud of the work that our design team has accomplished with BDI and Hothaus. The combination of technology and new home for the Bay Area's most respected news team will allow us to write the next chapter in our history."

The set will include three different sections -- the main desk, the weather center and a multipurpose area.

The main anchor desk will feature a large Duratran mural and will include the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

The weather center is large enough for multiple meteorologists and features 60-inch flat screen monitors.

The multipurpose area can be used for a separate anchor desk, reporter stand-ups, social media center, local news specials and community affairs programming.

The new set will also include cutting-edge technology highlighted by an 82-inch Perceptive Pixel plasma monitor with touch screen technology.

"Visually, the most stunning aspect is that our set designers connected all three presentation areas," said Ed Chapuis, KTVU news director. "It looks spectacular. The new Big Board will allow us to show the story to our viewers in a more powerful way during major breaking news and weather events."

Chapuis added that the Big Board adds another storytelling tool for the anchors and reporters to break down videos, graphics and 3D images for viewers.