San Jose Ca

State medical regulators Friday restricted the license of a San Jose doctor who allegedly gave diluted or old flu vaccines to 1,000 hotel workers in 1999 and 2000. Dr. James L. Andrews was barred from giving or supervising flu shots because of his "multiple extreme departures from the standard of practice," the Medical Board of California said in a statement. Andrews, a family practitioner, "routinely altered and diluted the dosage" of flu shots he administered, the Medical Board said.

The city's embattled but defiant mayor was arraigned Monday on public corruption charges stemming from a secretly negotiated deal with a garbage contractor that cost taxpayers more than $11 million. Ron Gonzales, 55, did not speak or enter a plea during an initial appearance in Santa Clara County Superior Court. But at a news conference afterward, Gonzales vehemently denied the charges and rejected colleagues' calls for his resignation.

Convicted child molester Curtis Dean Anderson was arraigned Thursday on charges he killed 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild. Anderson, 43, did not enter a plea to the murder, kidnapping and molestation charges. Xiana disappeared while on her way to school in December 1999, and her fate remained a mystery until her skull was discovered more than a year later. After Anderson was arrested in 2000 on charges of kidnapping another girl, he boasted to reporters that he killed Xiana.

At a local supermarket--not far from where the mall had collapsed in Tuesday's earthquake and two had died--a quiet line of anxious shoppers stretched for several blocks Wednesday, waiting as long as three hours to stock up on candles, flashlight batteries and canned goods. Max Spitzer, the manager of a neighborhood video store, said that to prevent hoarding, supermarket clerks were taking the shoppers' lists and doing their marketing for them. "It's cash only," he said.

A homeless man was stabbed to death in a downtown plaza as a bustling nighttime crowd milled nearby, police said. The man, who was in his 40s and lived at a Salvation Army shelter, was still alive when officers found him Friday night. He died on the way to a local hospital, police said. Before he died, he told investigators that he had just woken up when he was attacked. Witnesses said a man or group of men ambushed the victim and ran away.

Less than two weeks after a grand jury cleared a police officer of criminal wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a Vietnamese woman, the victim's parents and sons have filed a civil lawsuit that seeks unspecified damages.

Five Southern California healthcare providers have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they billed Medicare more than $1.1 million for fraudulent exams. The group was reimbursed for tests and exams that were either not performed by a physician or not performed at all, according to the indictment. Two of those indicted have been arrested. Alexander Dzhuga, 27, of Encino and Vladimir Semenov, 47, of Sherman Oaks were scheduled to appear in U.S.

Alviso residents, who for two years have argued that weeds and silt clogging the Guadalupe River expose them to the risk of floods, will get some help this winter. On Tuesday, the Santa Clara Valley Water District board delayed a decision on whether to cut the weeds that have drastically narrowed the river channel through Alviso Slough during the last 20 years. Instead, it launched a program to find out what extra flood protection measures can be taken before this winter's rains begin.

A sharp earthquake centered on or near the San Andreas Fault struck Northern California early Tuesday, apparently causing a 19-year-old man to panic and plunge to his death from a fifth-story apartment window. The 5.2-magnitude earthquake brought scores of calls to police and fire departments. Eleven aftershocks, including ones of 4.2 and 4.8 magnitude, followed Tuesday morning.

San Jose Unified School District has finally announced the names of the three elementary schools it will close to save $1.5 million. The city agency decided this week to close Erikson, Hammer and Hester elementary schools. The agency, which originally selected 12 of the district's 31 elementary schools for closing, kept the list secret until settling on the final three. On Wednesday, students at the three schools took home notes saying they would be enrolled elsewhere next fall.