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STOCKTON

Laotian immigrants seek help for Hmong

About 1,800 Laotian immigrants, including more than 100 Hmong veterans who fought for the United States against the Vietnamese, protested what they consider the unfair application of certain provisions of the Patriot Act to Hmong refugees.

State and local officials from the Central Valley heard how Hmong residents resettled from Laos and Thailand have had difficulty obtaining green cards, driver's licenses and passports because they or their relatives aided the U.S., said Srida Moua of Hmong National Development, a Hmong advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

Under the Patriot Act, Hmong aren't specifically listed as terrorists, but refugees may be denied entry to the U.S. if they are found to have provided material support to terrorists, defined under the act as having engaged in unlawful activity against their country, Moua said.

Two bills pending in Congress would remove the material support from applying to Hmong seeking asylum or permanent residency.

In brief

CUPERTINO

Students face action in hacking incident

Several students at a top-rated public high school in Santa Clara County are facing disciplinary action for allegedly hacking into the school's computer system to get a sneak peek of their upcoming final exams.

A school district official says the Monte Vista High School students got into the system with an Internet program that targets Windows-based networks and allowed them to find out the school's passwords. Along with tests, the students were able to access classmates' work and homework assignments.

Monte Vista High Principal April Scott would not say how many students were involved or how they will be disciplined.

The security breach was discovered when a student not involved in the episode found a list of passwords written on a piece of paper in the library and turned them over to the librarian.

PALA

4 die in crash; other driver faces charges

Two married couples were killed in San Diego County after their car collided with a sport utility vehicle driven by a man suspected of being under the influence.

The couples had been out for dinner and gambling at the local casinos before the Friday night crash on Route 76 near Pala.

Authorities say another driver lost control of his GMC Yukon and crossed into oncoming traffic, hitting the couples' Toyota Camry head-on. Jesus De Santiago, 45, and Lina De Santiago, 46, of Escondido died at the scene, along with Rubi Baez, 46. Luis Baez, 51, died a few hours later at a local hospital. The Baezes lived in Vista.

The California Highway Patrol said Anthony Boles, 24, of Palm Springs would be arrested for investigation of manslaughter and driving under the influence. Boles and a female passenger were treated for serious injuries.

EAST PALO ALTO

Man decorating tree is electrocuted

A man decorating a tree outside an apartment complex was electrocuted when a string of Christmas lights touched a high-voltage power line, authorities said.

The man, 23, who had climbed about 60 feet up a redwood tree, was trying to throw the string of lights onto hard-to-reach branches when he was killed instantly Saturday, according to Menlo Park Fire Protection District Chief Harold Schapelhouman.

Shortly after a neighbor reported the incident, fire crews arrived and found the man's body attached to the tree with smoke rising from his feet, officials said.

The body hung for more than an hour as hundreds of neighbors watched. Firefighters had to wait for utility crews to shut down power lines that supply electricity to thousands of nearby homes and businesses.

The victim's name was not being released until his family was notified.

LONG BEACH

Girl, 7, burned in fire dies of injuries

A 7-year-old girl burned in an apartment fire that killed her two sisters died Saturday after being hospitalized in critical condition.

Jocelin Aviles suffered several heart attacks after the early Friday blaze in a converted garage apartment that left her burned over about 18 percent of her body, fire officials said. She arrived in critical condition at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and was transferred to Torrance Memorial Medical Center's burn unit.

Jocelyn's sisters Stephanie Aviles, 6, and Jasmine Aviles, 10, died Friday at St. Mary's Medical Center.

Investigators suspected that the fire was started by a portable heater plugged into an overloaded power strip, Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Mike DuRee said. The roughly 300-square-foot garage had been illegally converted into a two-room apartment and did not have a smoke detector or sprinkler system, officials said.

The girls were being watched by their 17-year-old aunt Nancy Dearmas while their mother was at work. Dearmas fled for help shortly after 2 a.m., then went back, but the flames kept her from entering. She was not injured.

— From wire reports