Santa Rosas average price for regular gasoline was $3.005 a gallon today, according to AAA. A year ago, it was $4.536. Among the areas typically low-price stations, these prices were reported this morning: --$2.799 at Arco at Hearn and Corby Avenues in Santa Rosa. --$2.799 at Arco at Fourth Street and Brookwood Avenue in Santa Rosa.

Medicinal marijuana plants in Mendocino County can now be identified by visible tags distributed by the sheriffs department. Sales of medicinal marijuana zip-ties began Wednesday at noon.

WASHINGTON - Employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate climbed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Workers also saw weekly wages fall, suggesting Americans will have little appetite to spend and the economys road to recovery will be bumpy.

WASHINGTON -- Brighter news on manufacturing is offering more hope that the longest recession since World War II is near an end. But with construction and many other segments of the economy still weak and unemployment rising, any rebound likely will be slow.

WIMBLEDON, England - The purple “W” logo at Wimbledon might as well stand for the siblings who have made the womens championship their own playground. Yes, the Williams sisters are back in the Wimbledon final.

Beginning immediately, Windsor residents are required to be even stingier with water use.

Lawrence Larry Edward Jones, a retired Rohnert Park public safety officer known to a generation of school children and their parents as Officer Friendly, died at home Saturday after a battle with kidney cancer. He was 66.

NEW YORK -- Wine and spirits maker Constellation Brands Inc. said it is benefiting from consumers switching from higher-priced beverages to those that offer more buzz for the buck.

Struggling online video startup Joost, begun with much fanfare in 2007 by the same people behind Skype and Kazaa, is restructuring its business after discovering it cant survive on advertising to fund its operations. The chief executive, Mike Volpi, has stepped down but will remain as chairman.

OAKLAND - Jason Giambi and Jack Cust know that if they both start hitting more consistently, it could do a lot for Oaklands chances heading into the second half. Giambi and Cust broke out of funks with two-run homers, Dallas Braden ended a four-start winless stretch and the Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 on Wednesday.

U.S. Marines suffered their first casualties of a massive new military campaign Thursday as they engaged in sporadic gunbattles along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled heartland in southern Afghanistan. One Marine was killed and several others were injured or...

The stock market found little to celebrate heading into the long holiday weekend. Major stock indexes fell more than 2.6 percent Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones industrials to their lowest level in six weeks, after the government said the unemployment rate...

The King of Pop had a fan in the White House. President Barack Obama described himself as a longtime follower of Michael Jackson, the legendary performer who died June 25 at age 50. I grew up on his music _ still have all his stuff on my iPod, Obama said in...

Michael Jackson permeated popular culture so thoroughly that people and towns nationwide with no connection to him are holding services in his honor. A funeral director in Pittsburghs East Liberty neighborhood is holding a memorial service Thursday night and...

President Barack Obama tells The Associated Press that he will reassess the possible need for additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the Afghan national elections in August. Asked how he defines U.S. success in Afghanistan, the president said Thursday...

Girls who were sexually assaulted by men they first contacted on MySpace cannot seek damages from the social-networking Web site, which is protected from liability by federal law, a state appeals court has ruled. The decision by the Second District Court of...