Martinez Ca

Ever since the beavers arrived here in John Muir's adopted hometown, the human residents have been divided. Some wanted to save them. Others wanted to kill them. The first two beavers swam up from the delta in 2006 and began building lodges and dams in the creek that runs through downtown. Their construction work has caused some property owners along the creek to worry that all that burrowing will undermine their buildings and cause major damage.

Beavers that took up residence in a downtown creek here are staying put despite a noisy three-week construction project to shore up the bank near their lodge, relieved beaver supporters say. The eight beavers that live in Alhambra Creek near the city center have been spotted entering and leaving their lodge at dusk, even though workers drove 25-foot-long metal sheet piles into the ground a few feet from their burrow.

It took a good 800 feet of water to separate Rick Parker from his dream of turning a historic glass-bottom boat into a Cajun eatery. City officials in Martinez had rejected the idea. They noted that their dilapidated marina near San Francisco Bay had some of the murkiest water in the state and therefore perhaps one of the worst sites for a glass-bottom boat.

A 17-year-old who allegedly beat and strangled his 14-year-old neighbor will undergo further mental evaluation and counseling before a judge decides if he should stand trial. Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Mary Ann O'Malley ruled Friday that Marlin Synigal will remain in juvenile hall, where he'll receive training that could later enable him to assist in his own defense. Medical experts have characterized the teenager as mildly retarded and incompetent to stand trial.

Tesoro Corp., the second-largest oil refiner on the West Coast, said a fire Wednesday shut a fluid catalytic cracking unit at its refinery near San Francisco. The fire started about 4:15 p.m. and was extinguished by 5:05 p.m. by the refinery's emergency personnel, said Sarah Simpson, a spokeswoman at Tesoro's San Antonio headquarters. She didn't know how long the unit would be shut. There were no injuries and no effect on the surrounding community, Simpson said.

A trio accused of killing five people in August 2000, including the daughter of guitarist Elvin Bishop, wanted to bring truth to the world through a self-awareness program, a prosecutor said Monday as the case neared a preliminary hearing. The remains of an elderly Concord couple and Selina Bishop were found in nine duffel bags in the Mokelumne River. Two brothers and a friend are also charged in the shooting deaths of Selina Bishop's mother and the mother's boyfriend.

Days after allegedly biting off his sister's lip during an argument, a man turned himself in to Contra Costa County deputies and was charged with mayhem. On Dec. 9, Orlando Lewis, 29, and sister Lamesha Smith, 28, got into a fight. When Lewis refused to leave Smith's home she called 911. Smith said Lewis became enraged, grabbed her face and bit off her lower lip. Lewis told emergency dispatchers that "her lip got caught in my mouth and then she pulled back and pulled it off."