Oakland Ca

Just a few blocks off Oakland's busy Jack London Square, Walter Hoye, a soft-spoken Baptist minister, was standing outside an abortion clinic, doing his best not to get arrested. Dressed in black and wearing his "Got Jesus?" ball cap, Hoye, 52, of Union City, Calif., held the hand-lettered sign he always brings: "God loves you and your baby. Let us help you." His black wire-rimmed sunglasses, perched halfway down his nose, gave him a faintly Hollywood air.

In the neighborhood where four Oakland police officers were killed last weekend, a large makeshift memorial still adorns a sidewalk with flowers, notes and photographs of the slain police. Across the street lies another, smaller sidewalk memorial -- this one for the parolee who killed the officers. A cluster of African American women in front of the police memorial argued last week about a candlelight vigil planned for the felon, whom police had just linked by DNA to the rape of a 12-year-old.

Thousands of residents welcomed native son and former U.S. Rep. Ronald V. Dellums to power as this city's 48th mayor Monday in a populist and embittered rebuke of the former administration.

A private security guard was shot in the head but finished his shift and went home before being hospitalized and later dying, police said Thursday. Demetrio Baltazar, 59, of Oakland was shot Sunday afternoon as he sat in a security vehicle at an East Bay Municipal Utility District maintenance facility where he worked. Investigators believe that he was hit by a stray bullet from a nearby shooting. Oakland police Sgt. Jim Rullamas said it was unclear why Baltazar had not sought treatment.

As protesters geared up around the country to mark the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Saturday railed against the Bush administration's handling of the war with words that also served to implicitly criticize his own party's competitors for the White House.

The medical marijuana patient who took her case to the U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that she is dropping further legal appeals. Angel Raich, 41, a mother of two from Oakland who smokes cannabis for a variety of ills, including a brain tumor, said the battle should now move from the courts to Congress. "I'm not a quitter, so this was a hard decision. But I've lost all faith in the judicial system," said Raich, who was never arrested for her medical pot use but sought to bar the U.S.

A 5-year-old was shot and killed Friday at his grandmother's home, police said. "We cannot yet tell you if this was a homicide or tragic accident," said police homicide Lt. Ersie Joyner. "We can just confirm that this young boy was shot at his home and died later at Children's Hospital." The boy lived with his grandfather, Bobby Butler, in Prattville, Ala., but had been visiting his grandmother, Loretta Collier Butler, in Oakland.

An Oakland man died after being struck in the back of the head by a 200-pound fire hydrant that was sent flying when a sport-utility vehicle crashed into it, police said. Humberto Hernandez, 24, was walking with his wife Thursday evening when a 2007 Ford Escape blew a tire and swerved onto the sidewalk, striking the hydrant, police said. Water pressure and the impact of the crash sent the hydrant flying like a bullet, said Phil Abrams, an Alameda County deputy sheriff.

The truck involved in a fiery crash that brought down part of an Oakland freeway overturned when its load of fuel shifted during a lane change, according to a preliminary finding by the California Highway Patrol. An onboard satellite navigation system recorded the truck's speed as 62 mph, which is above the posted speed limit of 55 mph.

A prostitution sting scheduled to coincide with major league baseball's All-Star Game netted 131 arrests, authorities said Monday. "Operation Strikeout" resulted in arrests of suspected pimps, prostitutes and customers drawn to the Bay Area July 6-12 for the well-attended All-Star events.