LOS ANGELES, 4:50 a.m. Dec. 30 (AP)
Iraqi expatriates will be able to vote in next month's Iraqi election at polls in Los Angeles and four other U.S. cities, an international group organizing the voting said.

Registration and polling sites will also be established in Detroit, Chicago, Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C., the International Organization for Migration said in a statement this week.

DAGGETT, 3:12 p.m. Dec. 29 (AP)
Thieves steal Indian artifacts from Mojave desert museum: A break-in discovered Christmas Day has robbed the museum in this Mojave Desert town of its most prized possessions, including antique dolls and American Indian artifacts on loan from local families.

SACRAMENTO, 2:31 p.m. Dec. 29 (AP)
Ousted CalPERS president convinced governor helped bounce him: Sean Harrigan, ousted as president of the $182.8 billion California Public Employees Retirement System, said in an interview Wednesday that he's still convinced Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Walt Disney Co. and Safeway Inc., played significant roles in his departure.

SACRAMENTO, 1:51 p.m. Dec. 29 (AP)
Board of Ed member resigns before confirmation hearing: One of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's picks for the state Board of Education has resigned a week before a Senate committee was scheduled to vote on her confirmation.

ELK GROVE, 1:16 p.m. Dec. 29 (AP)
Schools chief calls universal preschool a priority for 2005: Despite predictions of another dire budget year, California's superintendent of public instruction said Wednesday that he's making universal preschool for 4-year-olds a priority in 2005.

SACRAMENTO, 12:07 a.m. Dec. 29 (AP)
Forecast for 2005: More fights over water on horizon: When the California Legislature reconvened in the final month of 2004, a Kern County lawmaker promptly set the stage for one of California's biggest water dramas of the new year.

SAN FRANCISCO, 12:04 a.m. Dec. 29 (AP)
Defense lawyers in steroid case seek to dismiss charges: The federal judge presiding over a steroids distribution case that has implicated several elite athletes refused to dismiss charges against three men, but ruled the defendants can try to convince her that statements made to investigators were illegally coerced and shouldn't be used against them.

LOS ANGELES, 12:02 a.m. Dec. 29 (AP)
Asian quake sends ripples of another kind across California: The earthquake and tsunamis that devastated southern Asia sent ripples of another kind across California with pleas for donations to help survivors and news that at least two people from the state were among the tens of thousands killed.

SACRAMENTO, 3:55 p.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
California girds for more fighting over water in 2005: When the California Legislature reconvened this month, a Kern County lawmaker set the stage for one of California's biggest water dramas of the new year.

LOS ANGELES, 4:26 p.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Asian quake sends ripples of another kind across California: The earthquake and tsunamis that devastated southern Asia sent ripples of another kind across California on Tuesday with pleas for donations to help survivors and news that at least two people from the state were among the tens of thousands killed.

PASADENA, 4:48 p.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Lawyer appeals death sentence, says jury instruction skewed case: A convicted killer scheduled for execution next month may have been improperly sentenced to death because of a jury instruction to consider a special circumstance that was later invalidated, an attorney told a federal appeals court Tuesday.

SAN MATEO, 5:13 p.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Police identify man who died in ocean off Montara State Beach: A 31-year-old man who died in the stormy water near Montara State Beach was identified by authorities Tuesday.

MOUNT SHASTA, 4:17 p.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Rescued climber: 'I knew I would do everything to survive': A 46-year-old New York man who became stranded about 10,000 feet up Mount Shasta was found uninjured Tuesday morning by a Siskiyou County sheriff's rescue team.

TORRANCE, 12:34 p.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Supreme Court reinstates $6 million punitive award: The California Supreme Court reinstated a $6 million punitive award to Robinson Helicopter Co., ruling a jury was right to punish an Ohio supplier for misrepresenting faulty engine parts sold to the Torrance-based company.

SACRAMENTO, 12:10 a.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Firms that paid no state taxes set to get $82 million in refunds: In a move that has stirred critics, three California-based companies that reportedly paid no state business income taxes last year will receive $5 million in tax refunds and 22 similar requests for another $77 million are pending.

ANAHEIM, 11:40 p.m. Dec. 27 (AP)
Four people struck by Disneyland float: A float in a Disneyland parade struck four people, including a woman who was taken to a hospital, park officials said Monday.

SAN MATEO, 9:27 p.m. Dec. 27 (AP)
Young man dies while apparently surfing near Montara State Beach: A young man who was apparently surfing near Montara State Beach died in the stormy waters Monday.

TORRANCE, 3:43 a.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Man to receive half of alleged molester's estate: A man will receive half the estate of a man he sued for molestation who committed suicide while under investigation.

LOS ANGELES, 8:29 p.m. Dec. 27 (AP)
Orange County man arrested in art fraud sting: A 66-year-old former doctor has been arrested after trying to sell a bogus Mary Cassatt painting for $800,000 to an undercover police officer, authorities said Monday.