The new, second location of Carmens Burger Bar is a bright spot in the battered world of small business sales. More common are tales of owners reeling from depressed business values and buyers who cant get loans.

Frank Gore and Patrick Willis were brilliant Saturday in the 49ers 28-24 exhibition win over the Raiders in Oakland, and Alex Smith showed star qualities for the second straight week.

It was the prospect of losing spring sports from Santa Rosa City Schools two decades ago that launched SchoolsPlus. When that specter returned to threaten the 2011 sports season, SchoolsPlus members used it as an opportunity to step up and branch out.

San Francisco 49ers nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin has ended his holdout by signing a $7 million franchise tag tender.

A woman leaped to her death this morning while trying to escape from a burning eighth-floor apartment in San Francisco, police said. Officers found the woman dead on the sidewalk on the 800 block of OFarrell Street, between Polk and Larkin streets, at about...

A 53-year-old homeless man was beaten to death Saturday near Kezar Stadium in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park, police said. The city medical examiners office identified the victim as Michael Ponder. Officers found his body about 7:30 a.m., said Sgt. Troy...

A man threw himself in front of a Muni bus on a San Francisco street and was killed Saturday, police said. Officers determined the death was a suicide and the driver was not at fault, said Sgt. Troy Dangerfield, a police spokesman. It happened shortly after 6...

As a Fremont police officer clung to life Saturday, the suspect in his shooting was captured in San Diego just one block away from the U.S.-Mexico border by a sharp-eyed police officer. Andrew Barrientos shot at two Fremont officers as they tried to arrest...

NASAs Kepler spacecraft, whose powerful telescope is scanning the stars in the Milky Way, has discovered two giant planets with abruptly changing orbits around their star that could offer insights into the birth and history of solar systems everywhere in the...

Forget the Dow and the GDP. Heres the latest economic indicator: The U.S. birth rate has fallen to its lowest level in at least a century as many people apparently decided they couldnt afford more mouths to feed. The birth rate dropped for the second year...