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SACRAMENTO

Bill would outlaw incandescent bulbs

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine wants California to turn off the incandescent light bulb.

The Sherman Oaks Democrat has introduced a bill that would bar sales of the high-energy bulbs starting in 2012. It's scheduled to be considered today by the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee, which Levine chairs.

Replacing incandescent bulbs with the more efficient compact fluorescent lights would produce a "huge energy savings" and reduce pollution generated by power plants, Levine said.

"It's the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road," he added.

In brief

MERCED

Tainted meat blamed on slaughterhouse

The company that distributed hamburger patties believed to have sickened at least three Napa County children with E. coli bacteria is blaming the contamination on the slaughterhouse that processed the meat.

Steve Wood, vice president for Merced-based Richwood Meat Co. Inc., said he does not know which slaughterhouse provided the meat. Richwood receives raw, boneless meat from suppliers and turns it into hamburger patties and other products.

The recalled products are hamburger patties and ground beef sold under the brands Fireriver, Chef's Pride, Ritz Food, Blackwood Farms, California Pacific Associates, C&C Distributing, Golbon and Richwood.

SANTA CRUZ

Spinach companies settle in death suits

The companies that grew, processed and marketed contaminated spinach that led to a nationwide E. coli outbreak last year have settled lawsuits in the deaths of three women.

The attorney for the families of Ruby Trautz, 81, of Bellevue, Neb., Betty Howard, 83, of Richland, Wash., and June Dunning, 86, of Hagerstown, Md., said the women died after eating spinach bagged under the Dole label.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

Man arrested after news item published

A British national was arrested by federal immigration agents after describing past drug convictions in a newspaper article last month.

Calvin Alexander Lee, who immigrated 24 years ago, was arrested Friday at his Huntington Beach home and faces deportation proceedings, officials said.

Lee, 41, was quoted in an Orange County Register story last month about legal U.S. residents being deported as a result of new immigration-screening measures.

Lee said he was "lucky" to have escaped notice from immigration authorities when he was jailed five years ago on felony drug charges. Such offenses are usually grounds for deporting noncitizens.

SAN RAFAEL

Charges dropped in death of embryo

A Novato man accused of stabbing a pregnant woman to death will not face a second murder charge after prosecutors determined the embryo was not developed enough to be considered a victim under California law.

Prosecutors have dropped one of the murder charges against Gregorio Maximillian Mendez-Deleon, 40, because tests revealed the embryo "lacked identifiable structures that must be present in order for an unborn child to be classified as a fetus," Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian said.

The dropped charge means the death penalty is off the table if Mendez-Deleon is convicted in the December killing of Ana Celia Valiente-Guardado, 23.

LAGUNA BEACH

Two killed in shooting at oceanfront hotel

A man and a woman were killed at a luxury oceanfront resort Sunday when police fired into their bungalow after they refused to drop a handgun, authorities said.

Several 911 callers said a naked woman was running around the Montage Resport and Spa waving a gun, authorities said. Police arrived at the room minutes later.

A gun was passed between the man and the woman and both pointed it at police, authorities said.

Two officers fired into the room after the couple refused to drop the gun.

FRESNO

Transgender prom hopeful misses out

A transgender candidate for prom king made an elegant appearance to the Fresno High School dance in a tuxedo Saturday night, but missed winning the title, school officials said.

Cinthia Covarrubias, 17, identifies as transgender.

School officials added the teen's name to the ballot for prom king Thursday although she is biologically female, reversing a previous district protocol allowing only males to run for king and only females to run for prom queen.

"I hope this opens up something new," Covarrubias said before the crowning.