DOG STUFFED INTO BURLAP SACK DUMPED ALONG ROAD: RIVERSIDE, (AP) — A Chihuahua stuffed into a burlap sack and dumped along a Southern California roadway is recovering at a Riverside animal adoption center.
A center volunteer was driving to work on Monday when she saw something moving inside the tied-up sack along a road in Mead Valley.
She untied the sack, looked inside and saw the dirty, shivering dog.
It's unclear how long the dog was abandoned in the sack.
Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center spokeswoman Carrie Ridgeway said that the dog's ears were caked with mud and there were insect bites on its body.
Adoption center workers have named the 3-year-old dog Angel.
LA COUNCIL MOVES TO SEND TAX BOOST TO VOTERS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles is hoping taxpayers are in a generous mood.
One week after voters approved a statewide sales tax increase pushed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved placing a half-cent boost on the March city ballot.
The city of nearly 4 million people has been wrestling with long-running budget gaps and soaring health and pension costs for retired city workers.
Proposition 30 approved last week will increase the sales tax in the city from 8.75 percent to 9 percent on Jan. 1.
The city proposal would kick that rate to 9.5 percent — among the highest in the nation.
The proposal approved 10-4 must return for a second vote next week.
It would raise an estimated $200 million a year.
SPAWNING SALMON CLIMB NEW FISH LADDER: LINCOLN (AP) — Big numbers of salmon are climbing the new Auburn Ravine fish ladder in what a California environmentalist calls a fall spawning godsend.
The Sacramento Bee (http://sacb.ee/SS4zHl) says California Department of Fish and Game biologists have counted 150 chinook salmon using the $800,000 ladder near Lincoln in the past three weeks.
Officials have also found 13 spawning sites in the gravel creek bed upstream of the Placer County ladder.
The Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead group worked for three years to restore salmon to the creek.
A board member for the nonprofit, John Rabe, says the results have exceeded the organization's dreams.
The Nevada Irrigation District installed the fish ladder at its Lincoln Gauging Station, which about 30 miles north of Sacramento.
ATTACKED WOMAN WON'T PAY SPOUSE'S LEGAL FEES: SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego county woman who was sexually assaulted by her husband won't have to pay $25,000 to his divorce attorney.
Two years ago, a judge ordered Crystal Harris of Carlsbad to pay the additional bill after she'd already agreed to pay $47,000 of her husband's divorce fees.
But U-T San Diego says another judge ruled last week it would be unjust to force Harris to pay the additional fee.
Harris's husband, Eduardo Contreras, is serving six years in prison for sexually assaulting her. A new state law inspired by her divorce takes effect in January. It bars judges from ordering spousal abuse victims to pay support after divorce.
WOMAN CHARGED IN SHOOTINGS OF LA CHURCH MEMBERS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman alleged to be a member of a Los Angeles gang has been charged with murder, attempted murder and vandalism in connection with the shootings of two men who tried to stop a graffiti attack on a church.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office says 22-year-old Janeth Lopez will be arraigned on the charges Tuesday afternoon.
Prosecutors allege that on Nov. 4 Lopez was spray-painting graffiti on the Iglesia de Paz church in the Westlake district when two church members interrupted the vandalism.
Authorities say a suspected male gang member got out of a car and fatally shot 25-year-old Andres Ordonez and wounded the second man. The gunman fired at a third man but missed. The district attorney's office says Lopez allegedly fled in the shooter's car.
LA UNIFIED NIXES FURLOUGHS TO RESTORE SCHOOL YEAR: LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Unified board of education has rescinded 10 furlough days to restore the district's full 180-day academic year.
The board unanimously approved Superintendent John Deasy's request at its meeting Tuesday.
Deasy says that with voters' approval of Proposition 30, the district staved off a $255 million funding cut, allowing the nation's second-largest district to fulfill the state-mandated instructional calendar.
The initiative called for a quarter-cent sales tax hike and higher income taxes on the wealthy to fund public education.
Nevertheless, Deasy notes that the district still faces possible federal funding cuts.
Warren Fletcher, president of teachers union United Teachers Los Angeles, hails the move to cancel the furloughs and notes it would be the district's first full school year since 2008.
PRIVATE GUMSHOE USED WOMAN TO BAIT COUNCILMAN: COSTA MESA (AP) — A private investigator says he set up a sting operation for a Costa Mesa councilman in the run-up to a contentious local election.
Chris Lanzillo told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that he did nothing illegal by asking a woman to flirt with Councilman Gary Monahan at a tavern the politician owns. The story was first reported in an Orange County Register column.
Lanzillo also reported to police an erroneous suspicion that another councilman was driving drunk.
Lanzillo is declining to say who hired him and prosecutors are investigating.
Organized labor and the city have been battling for months and at least one councilman alleges Lanzillo was working for a law firm hired by the police union.
The union denies it and has fired the law firm.
4 MORE TAHOE-AREA SKI RESORTS OPENING THIS WEEK: TRUCKEE (AP) — Four more Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts are set to open early due to several powerful storms combined with large-scale snowmaking operations.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports Heavenly Mountain Resort and Northstar California Resort will open on Wednesday, Nov. 14, with a combined seven lifts and eight trails. Kirkwood and Squaw Valley are set to open on Friday, Nov. 16.
The weather will cooperate on Wednesday, as forecasters are expecting partly cloudy skies and highs in the mid-50s. Some rain or snow showers are expected on Friday, with temperatures in the mid-40s.
